Steroid injection gives best relief for tennis elbow

Local steroid injections give better short term pain relief than non-steroidal anti-inflammatories or placebo in patients with tennis elbow. No clear consensus exists on treatment for tennis elbow, and most trials have been conducted in hospital settings, although patients are usually treated in primary care. Hay et al (p 964) assessed the effectiveness of steroidal injection, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, and placebo in a pragmatic randomised controlled trial in primary care. Although patients who received an injection did better at four weeks, they found that most patients were better at 12 months irrespective of treatment.

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Relevant Article

Pragmatic randomised controlled trial of local corticosteroid injection and naproxen for treatment of lateral epicondylitis of elbow in primary care

Elaine M Hay, Susan M Paterson, Martyn Lewis, Gillian Hosie, and Peter Croft
BMJ 1999 319: 964-968. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]