[Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in epicondylitis humeri radialis. Short-term and intermediate-term results]

Eighty-five patients with a chronic therapy-resistant lateral epicondylitis (LE) were treated with extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT). All patients had been previously treated with physical therapy, local injections, and other conservative procedures for at least 6 months. Three weekly sessions of ESWT were performed under local anesthesia with a Dornier Epos Ultra (energy flux density 0.05-0.18 mJ/mm2). Complications such as small hematomas were only found in four patients. After a mean follow-up of 30.7 months, 78 patients could be evaluated with the Roles and Maudsley score. Of these 30.8% had an excellent and 42.3% a good result, while 11.5% had a fair and 15.4% a distinctly poor outcome. Pain perception under stress conditions was assessed by the visual analog scale, which decreased significantly from 6.5 before ESWT to 2.0 after ESWT (p < 0.0001). A graduated local pressure pain on lateral epicondyle remained in 71.8% of the patients as a residual symptom. Sixty-two patients declared their satisfaction with the ESWT and would agree to have the therapy repeated.