ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: One of the most common reasons of elbow and forearm pain is lateral epicondylitis diagnosed based on clinical examination. The extracorporeal shock wave therapy is applied for less invasive treatments with different dosages. This study aimed to investigate the effects of high- and low-dose ESW in treating the lateral epicondylitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was done in Al Zahra medical center on 40 patients who were selected randomly and divided into two groups. After VAS, the first group was treated by Duolith SD1 shock wave, energy of 0.25 mj/mm2, 1000 shocks; the second was treated by focus with the energy of 0.10 mj/mm2, 1000 shocks per session for 15 minutes with weekly intervals in three sessions. The patients were also treated with drugs (NSAIDs) and the visual analog scale (VAS) was reassessed 1 week after the last session and 12 weeks after finishing the treatment. RESULTS: The mean of pain intensity during study was decreased in the two groups but reduction of pain intensity in the low-dose groups was higher than the high-dose groups (P = 0.001). Changes in other parameters including wrist extension test, middle finger extension test and PG was also similar. CONCLUSION: Extra corporeal shockwave therapy can be effective in treating lateral epicondylitis, but its effects usually appear in after 2 or 3 months and using the low dose of this treating method has more desirable therapeutic effects.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The Study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two commonly used conservative treatments, splinting and local steroid injection in improving clinical and nerve conduction findings of the patients with severe carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized control clinical trial, the patients with severe CTS selected and randomized in two interventional groups. Group A was prescribed to use full time neutral wrist splint and group B was injected with 40 mg Depo-Medrol and prescribed to use the full time neutral wrist splint for 12 weeks. Clinical and nerve conduction findings of the patients was evaluated at baseline, 4 and 12 weeks after interventions. RESULTS: Twenty-two and 21 patients were allocated in group A and B, respectively. Mean of clinical symptoms and functional status scores, nerve conduction variables and patients' satisfaction score were not significant between group at baseline and 4 and 12 weeks after intervention. Within the group comparison, there was significant improvement in the patients' satisfaction, clinical and nerve conduction items between the baseline level and 4 weeks after intervention and between the baseline and 12 weeks after intervention (P < 0.01). The difference was significant for functional status score between 4 and 12 weeks after intervention in group B (P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: considering some findings regarding the superior effect of splinting plus local steroid injection on functional status scale and median nerve distal motor latency, it seems that using combination therapy could be more effective for long-term period specially in the field of functional improvement of CTS.
ABSTRACT
Objectives. To investigate the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for symptoms alleviation in chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS). Materials and Methods. 40 patients with CPPS were randomly allocated into either the treatment or sham group. In the first group, patients were treated by ESWT once a week for 4 weeks by a defined protocol. In the sham group, the same protocol was applied but with the probe being turned off. The follow-up assessments were done at 1, 2, 3, and 12 weeks by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain and NIH-developed Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI). Results. Pain domain scores at follow-up points in both treatment and sham groups were reduced, more so in the treatment group, which were significant at weeks 2, 3, and 12. Urinary scores became significantly different at weeks 3 and 12. Also, quality of life (QOL) and total NIH-CPSI scores at all four follow-up time points reduced more significantly in the treatment group as compared to the sham group. Noticeably, at week 12 a slight deterioration in all variables was observed compared to the first 3 weeks of the treatment period. Conclusions. our findings confirmed ESWT therapy as a safe and effective method in CPPS in short term.
