RESUMEN
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a rehabilitation program for the patients with lateral epicondylitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients with lateral epicondylitis were included from April 2009 to October 2009 and all the patients were treated with a rehabilitation program for 6 weeks. The evaluation at baseline and at 12 weeks after rehabilitation included the subjective assessment of symptoms and the objective assessment with measuring the grip strength and muscle power of the wrist extensors and flexors and the forearm supinators and pronators. After 6 months, subjective satisfaction was evaluated via telephone calls. The data was analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test (SPSS ver. 16.0). RESULTS: At 12 weeks, the subjective satisfaction was improved in on the three questionnaires. The grip strength increased from 25.1 kg to 37.8 kg (p<0.05). On the Biodex analysis, there was significant difference at the wrist extensors. At 6 months, 21 cases had excellent or good results according to the score and 2 cases complained of remaining pain. CONCLUSION: Our rehabilitation program is thought to be good treatment for the patients with lateral epicondylitis, and it is a practical and precautionary step for the cases of lateral epicondylitis if the patients themselves are educated to volutarily participate in the program.