Effects of concentric contraction of the wrists and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation cycle on pain and muscle strength in lateralepicondylitis patients.
Yeong-Deok Choi, Myung-Joon Kim, Jung-Ho Lee
PMID 29643577WHAT IT FOUND
Both groups reduced pain.
Doing wrist exercises at the same time as TENS improved grip strength more than doing exercises after TENS. The study was small and short, so this difference is tentative.
Key findings
01Pain scores decreased significantly in both the group that exercised during TENS and the group that exercised after TENS, but there was no significant difference in pain reduction between the two groups.
02Grip strength increased significantly in both groups, but the increase was significantly greater in the experimental group that performed concentric contractions in sync with the TENS cycle.
03The study had a small sample size and a short intervention period, and it did not use other exercise types or continuous evaluation.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (30 patients total). The intervention period was short (four weeks). Only concentric contraction exercises were tested; other exercise types were not compared. Evaluation was not continuous (only pre- and post-test). All treatments and evaluations were performed by a single physical therapist, which may introduce bias. The study did not report blinding of patients or assessors.
Declared interests
No funding sources or conflicts of interest were reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that synchronizing exercise with TENS is superior for pain relief. The study found no significant difference in pain reduction between the two groups. The advantage was only seen in grip strength, and the study was small and short-term.