Ultrasound (US) | Laser | Electrotherapy | Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF) | Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) | Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) | ||||||
US* vs placebo or no treatment Short term | ± | Laser* vs placebo Short term | ± | Noxious level electrical stimulation over the platelet tender points* vs placebo | PEMF compared to placebo | Low-frequency vs high-frequency TENS on acupuncture points | ESWT vs placebo | ||||
Mid-term | ++ | Mid-term | ENE | Short term | + | Short term | ENE | Short term | ENE | Short term | ± |
Long term | ENE | Mid term | ENE | ||||||||
Long term | ENE | ||||||||||
US vs US plus friction massage Short term (<3 months) | ENE | Laser vs placebo and plyometric exercises Short term | ++ | InterX and soft tissue massage, stretching, US and exercise vs soft tissue massage, stretching, US and exercise. | Low-frequency TENS on acupuncture points* vs placebo | ESWT vs percutaneous tenotomy | |||||
Short term | ENE | Short term | + | Short term | ENE | ||||||
Long term | ENE | Long term | ENE | ||||||||
US vs exercises* Long term | + | Laser vs US plus friction massage* Short term | ++ | High-frequency TENS on acupuncture points* vs placebo Short term | ESWT vs corticosteroid injection* | ||||||
+ | Short term | + | |||||||||
Long term | ENE | ||||||||||
US plus exercises vs a brace plus exercises vs laser therapy plus exercises | ESWT vs physical therapy Short term | ENE | |||||||||
Short term | ENE | Mid-term | ENE | ||||||||
Long term | ENE | ||||||||||
US* vs chiropractic therapy | |||||||||||
Short term | + | ||||||||||
US vs acupuncture therapy | |||||||||||
Short term | ENE |
†For medial epicondylitis no RCTs on electrophysical modalities were found.
+, Limited evidence found; ++, moderate evidence found; +++, strong evidence found; ±, conflicting evidence for effectiveness; *, in favour of; ENE, evidence of no effect of the treatment; interX, new electric modality; RCTs available, but no differences between intervention and control groups were found.