RESUMO
The aim of this study was to investigate the dose-related effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on the lateral epicondylitis of the elbow. Between March 2005 and March 2008, 66 patients who had been treated with extracorporeal shock wave therapy due to lateral epicondylitis of elbow formed the subjects. The subjects were divided into the 1st, 2nd and the 3rd treatment group and evaluated the clinical outcomes by visual analog scale (VAS) and a simple elbow test (SET) at immediate treatment, posttreatment 6 and 12 months, retrospectively. Changes in VAS score between the 2nd and 3rd treatment group and between the 1st and 3rd treatment group showed significant difference only at posttreatment 1 month group (p=0.001, 0.2, 0.1), (p=0.03, 0.08, 0.3), but Visual Analog Scale score at posttreatment 1 month showed no difference within the groups (p=1.0, 0.2, 0.07). SET within and between the groups showed significant difference at posttreatment 6 and 12 months (p<0.05).