Low and High Dose Dextrose Prolotherapy in the Treatment of Lateral Epicondylitis

Summary

Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) is an enthesopathy seen in 1-2% of the population aged 30-65 years, which can occur in the lateral epicondyle origo of the extensor carpi radialis brevis and longus muscles, after frequently repetitive activities and can lead to limitations in the daily life activities of the patients. The diagnosis is made by anamnesis and clinical examination, cases that last more than 3 months are defined as chronic lateral epicondylitis. Treatment options are analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hand-wrist splints, eccentric strengthening exercises for forearm muscles and wrist dorsiflexors, injection therapies, physical therapy agents such as therapeutic ultrasound, ESWT(extracorporeal shockwave therapy), low-level laser therapy, and surgery. Prolotherapy is a treatment method that is performed with repetitive injections of a small amount of irritant or sclerosing solutions such as hypertonic dextrose, phenol-glycerin-glucose, or sodium morrhuate and aims to activate the healing process by increasing the blood flow around the damaged tendinopathy or enthesopathy area with the effect of these solutions. Hypertonic dextrose solutions in concentrations ranging from 12.5-20% are frequently used in prolotherapy. Prolotherapy can be done with ultrasound guidance or by determining anatomical landmarks. The injection is applied to the annular ligament, lateral epicondyle, and supracondylar area where the forearm extensor muscles adhere. Injection side effects and complications are pain, bruising, muscle spasm, nerve or vessel damage at the injection site. Based on previous studies, the low dose of dextrose solutions (1%, 5%, and 10%) may have a similar effect with fewer side effects than higher concentrations of dextrose solutions (15%, 20%, 25%) and the low dose may have fewer cell damage. Thus, it may be possible to apply an effective treatment method with fewer side effects in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis. Also, in this study, the effect of inflammation created by injection of saline in one group and the inflammatory, proliferative and angiogenic effects of dextrose injected in other groups at different concentrations on the treatment outcome will be compared.

Timeline

Start

2021-01-01

Primary completion

2022-05-01

Completion

2022-05-21

Publications

• Background Hauser RA, Lackner JB, Steilen-Matias D, Harris DK. A Systematic Review of Dextrose Prolotherapy for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain. Clin Med Insights Arthritis Musculoskelet Disord. 2016 Jul 7;9:139-59. doi: 10.4137/CMAMD.S39160. eCollection 2016.
• Background Tsai SW, Hsu YJ, Lee MC, Huang HE, Huang CC, Tung YT. Effects of dextrose prolotherapy on contusion-induced muscle injuries in mice. Int J Med Sci. 2018 Jul 30;15(11):1251-1259. doi: 10.7150/ijms.24170. eCollection 2018.
• Background Sims SE, Miller K, Elfar JC, Hammert WC. Non-surgical treatment of lateral epicondylitis: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Hand (N Y). 2014 Dec;9(4):419-46. doi: 10.1007/s11552-014-9642-x.
• Ciftci YGD, Tuncay F, Kocak FA, Okcu M. Is Low-Dose Dextrose Prolotherapy as Effective as High-Dose Dextrose Prolotherapy in the Treatment of Lateral Epicondylitis? A Double-Blind, Ultrasound Guided, Randomized Controlled Study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2023 Feb;104(2):179-187. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2022.09.017. Epub 2022 Oct 13.

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