Corticosteroid Injection versus Kinesio Taping in Patients with Tennis Elbow: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis
Sarisa Tummai, MSc1, Thanakorn Srichaphan, PhD2, Kittisak Sawanyawisuth, MD, PhD3, Suttikorn Apanukul, PhD4
Affiliation : 1Sport Division, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 2Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 3Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 4Faculty of Sports Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective: To evaluate if corticosteroid injection or Kinesio taping is more effective in patients with tennis elbow by using a systematic review.
Materials and Methods: This systematic review was conducted by searching on four databases including PubMed, Cochrane library, Scopus, and CINAHL. The inclusion criteria were studies conducted in adult patients with tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis and treated with corticosteroid injection versus Kinesio taping by the randomized or non-randomized controlled trials. The outcomes of the study were clinical outcomes after the treatment of both Kinesio taping and corticosteroid including visual analogue scale of pain (VAS), grip strength, and Quick Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand.
Results: There were 38 articles related to Kinesio taping and other treatments from four databases. There were two articles included in the quantitative analysis and meta-analysis. Among three outcomes, only grip strength was significantly different between both groups and both at baseline and at post-treatment. At baseline, the corticosteroid group had higher grip strength than the Kinesio taping group by 7.26 kg-force (95% confidence interval of 3.13 to 13.45), while the corticosteroid group had higher grip strength than the Kinesio taping group by 9.28 kg force (95% confidence interval of 4.75 to 13.81) at post-treatment.
Conclusion: Corticosteroid injection may be more effective than Kinesio taping in terms of grip strength. However, these results may need to be cautiously interpreted as there were significant differences in the grip strength at baseline. Further studies are required to confirm the results of this study.
Keywords : Grip strength; Methylprednisolone; Triamcinolone; Lateral epicondylitis
