Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Electrical Stimulation on Radial Nerve in Patients With Lateral Epicondylalgia

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Lateral epicondylalgia is a common musculoskeletal condition that approximately affects 1-3% of the general population. Several authors have found greater mechanical pain sensitivity in the radial nerve when compared with healthy subjects. Radial tunnel syndrome exhibits a similar clinical presentation to lateral epicondylalgia. Percutaneous electrical stimulation has shown reduce pain in several conditions. Percutaneous electrical stimulation on the radial nerve could cause an important relief in lateral epicondylalgia. Hypothesis: Percutaneous electrical stimulation on radial nerve plus exercise therapy in patients with lateral epicondylalgia is better than sham percutaneous electrical stimulation plus exercise.

Detailed Description
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Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial, using Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (PENS). PENS is technique to provide a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation current throughout needling filaments place close to the nerve. Study Aims: Aim #1: The primary aim of the study is to compare the effect of the short, mid and long-term of PENS on intensity of pain as measured by numeric pain rating scale and disability as measured by Patient Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) in patients with lateral epicondylalgia with random assignment to two treatments: PENS plus exercise program or Sham PENS plus exercise program. Aim #2: The secondary aim of the study is to compare the effect of the short, medium and long-term of PENS on disability as measured by DASH questionnaire, and psychological factors (fear and avoidance and catastrophism) and Global Rating of Change (GRoC) in patients with lateral epicondylalgia with random assignment to two treatments: PENS plus exercise program or Sham PENS plus exercise program.

Official Title
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Effectiveness of Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Electrical Stimulation on Radial Nerve With Exercises in Patients With Lateral Epicondylalgia

Conditions
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Tennis Elbow

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: PENS plus exercise
* Other: Sham PENS plus exercise


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Lateral epicondylalgia symptoms confirmed with at least 2 of the 4 following test: pain during palpation of lateral epicondyle pain on resisted wrist extension pain on resisted middle finger extension pain during hand-grip. Exclusion Criteria: History of fractures, luxations, surgery and/or musculoskeletal disorders in upper limb. Neurological disorders, inflammatory and/or degenerative diseases. Having received as treatment techniques that involve needles on the previous 6 months to study enrollment, or having received percutaneous electrical stimulation as a treatment before. Cervical pathology, fibromyalgia, unstable cardiovascular diseases, pregnant women or under suspect of pregnancy. Contraindications of needle's insertions: anticoagulant therapy, needle phobia, diabetes, hypothyroidism, lymphoedema, muscular diseases). Contraindications of electrical current application.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: PENS plus exercise group<br>Experimental: PENS plus exercise group 4-week intervention program with 1 weekly treatment session, one of percutaneous electrical stimulation. In addition, self-management loaded exercise, prescribed by the physical therapist but completed by the patient independently . It involved isometric exercises, eccentric exercise, eccentric-concentric with weight or resistive therapeutic band. | Other: PENS plus exercise<br>* The technique will be performed ultrasound-guided on the radial nerve, the places of the needle's insertions will be the following: Needle will be placed at under the lateral intermuscular septum between the triceps brachii and brachialis, approximately 10cm superior to the lateral epicondyle Needle will be placed at the upper third of the forearm on the posterior interosseous nerve after passing the arcade of Froshe The percutaneous electrical stimulation will be realized with a transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) current: TENS Frequency 2 Hz TENS Pulse width - 250 microseconds Duration - 30 minutes. TENS Intensity - Increased at an intensity of visible motor response of the innervated musculature and maximal tolerable intensity. Administration - One per week Self-management loaded exercises prescribed by a physical therapist, two times per week.<br>|
| Sham Comparator: Sham PENS plus exercise group<br>Sham Comparator: Sham PENS plus exercise group 4-week intervention program with 1 weekly treatment session, one of percutaneous electrical stimulation. In addition, self-management loaded exercise, prescribed by the physical therapist but completed by the patient independently. It involved isometric exercises, eccentric exercise, eccentric-concentric with weight or resistive therapeutic band. | Other: Sham PENS plus exercise<br>* The technique will be performed ultrasound-guided on the radial nerve, the places of the needle's insertions will be the following: Needle will be placed at under the lateral intermuscular septum between the triceps brachii and brachialis, approximately 10cm superior to the lateral epicondyle Needle will be placed at the upper third of the forearm on the posterior interosseous nerve after passing the arcade of Froshe The electrical current will not be working, and the needles will be placed during 30 minutes: - Administration - One per week Self-management loaded exercises prescribed by a physical therapist, two times per week.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Changes in Elbow Pain Intensity between baseline and follow-up periods | Pain intensity measured with a 10 (0 - No pain - 10 The worst pain) numeric rating scale | Baseline, 1 week post-intervention, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the intervention | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Changes in Elbow Related-Disability between baseline and follow-up periods | Measured with Patient Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE). It is a 15-item questionnaire designed to measure forearm pain and disability in patients | Baseline,1 week post-intervention, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the intervention | 
| Changes in Upper Extremity Related-Disability between baseline and follow-up period | Measured with Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Questionnaire. It includes 30 items assessing (1) degree of difficulty during the preceding week in performing several physical activities because of problems in a upper extremity (21 items), (2) severity of each of the symptoms of pain, activity related pain, tingling, weakness, and stiffness (5 items), and (3) the problem's effect on social activities, work, and sleep and its psychological impact (4 items). Each item is answered on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (no difficulty to perform, no symptom, or no impact) to 5 (unable to do, very severe symptom, or high impact). The responses to the 30 items are summed to form a raw score that is then converted to a scale from 0 to 100 with a formula. A higher score reflects greater disability. | Baseline, 1 week post-intervention, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the intervention | 
| Changes in Kinesiophobia between baseline and follow-up periods | Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia. To assess the fear of movement and pain-related fear. The 11 items are scored 1-4, with total scores ranging from 11 to 44. The addition of all the points obtained from each of the items results in the level of kinesiophobia, with higher scores indicating greater perceived kinesiophobia | Baseline,1 week post-intervention, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the intervention | 
| Changes in Pain Catastrophizing between baseline and follow-up periods | Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). This tool is a 13-item questionnaire designed to measure the three components of pain-related catastrophizing: rumination, magnification, and helplessness, resulting in a unique score. Each item is responded to on a 5-point scale (0 not at all, 4 all the time) relating the degree to which the individual experiences a thought or feeling of a painful situation. | Baseline, 1 week post-intervention, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the intervention | 
| Changes in Self-perceived Improvement between baseline and follow-up periods | Global ratings on changes in regards to their level of elbow well-being since the treatment on a 15-point self-report scale (from -7, very much worse, to 7, completely recover) | Baseline,1 week post-intervention, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the intervention | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Lateral Epicondylalgia, Lateral Epicondylitis, Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy, Lateral Elbow Pain, Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation