Keele Researcher Investigates A Treatment For Tennis Elbow
Main Category: Bones / OrthopaedicsAlso Included In: Pain / Anesthetics; Neurology / Neuroscience; Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Article Date: 17 Mar 2008 - 0:00 PDT
| Patient / Public: | ![]() |
3 (2 votes) |
| Health Professional: | ![]() |
3 (3 votes) |
| Article Opinions: | 0 posts |
Professor Elaine Hay, Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences at Keele University in Staffordshire, has been awarded £235,000 by the National Institute for Health Research under the Research for Patient Benefit Programme for a three year project aimed finding an effective treatment for tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow is a common, and often extremely painful musculoskeletal condition but systematic reviews conclude that there is no clear and effective treatment for symptoms of pain in the first six weeks. Whilst corticosteroid injections offer short term pain relief, this treatment is unpleasant and is used with caution due to an associated high risk of recurrence of pain in the long term. There is a clear need for an intervention that is acceptable to patients and provides them with effective short-term pain relief without increasing the risk of recurrences.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is an inexpensive, non-invasive and non-pharmacological form of analgesia that is commonly used in the treatment of pain. This study aims: to assess the effectiveness of a self-management package of treatment that includes TENS compared with "usual care"; investigate the outcomes at six and 12 months and investigate secondary outcomes.
The study, titled "TENS for tennis elbow", will be a two-arm pragmatic randomized controlled trial involving 240 adults presenting to GP's with a new episode of tennis elbow. Patients randomized to the intervention arm of the study will be instructed how to apply a TENS machine to achieve optimal analgesic effect. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, six weeks, six and 12 months.
KEELE UNIVERSITY
Keele
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG
http://www.keele.ac.uk
|
Please rate this article: (Hover over the stars then click to rate) |
Patient / Public: |
or |
Health Professional: |
Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
Contact Our News Editors
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.
![]()
Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
| Back to top | Back to front page | List of All Medical Articles |
| Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | © 2009 MediLexicon International Ltd |




