Autologous Blood Injection In The Treatment Of Refractory Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow is a common cause of pain and disability. It is more frequently seen in non-athletes, with a peak incidence in the early fifth decade on a nearly equal gender basis. Degeneration of the tendon of extensor carpi radialis brevis is believed to be the most common cause. Non-operative treatment is successful in effecting a resolution of symptoms in 90% of the patients. The remaining 10%, who do not respond to conservative treatment are labeled as resistant or refractory cases. Different modalities of treatment are used to treat these chronic cases. This includes multiple steroid injections, percutaneous tendon release, botulinum toxin injection, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, arthroscopic debridement, laser therapy, local injection of autologous blood and even platelet rich plasma and various surgical procedures. The fact that none of these procedures has been able to achieve a desirable outcome in a vast majority of subjects, research is on to reach a consensus in the non –operative treatment of this condition. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical outcome in patients who failed to respond to other forms of non-operative modalities. The result of this study reveals that there was a significant improvement in pain and Nirschl stage in 58% of patients. There was no significant difference in the pain and Nirschl stage between the males and the females. There were, however, eleven patients (42%) who did not show a satisfactory response. There was no complication associated with the procedure. We conclude that autologous blood injection for refractory tennis elbow may be a viable option in these patients before being considered for surgery.