The Use of the MyoDK for Mechanical Pressure in the Treatment of Chronic Lateral Epicondylalgia: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic Lateral Epicondylalgia (CLE) is potentially associated with a significant reduction of the patient’s quality of life; its treatment by manual Deep Transverse Friction (DTF), although widely accepted, lacks standardization. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of the MyoDK device, which allows deep transverse pressure (DTP) monitoring, for treatment of CLE. Materials and Methods: This is a single centre observational study for treatment of CLE by the MyoDK device. In a given year, all patients who appeared at our institution with a diagnostic of CLE were screened for possible inclusion. Exclusion criteria were: confounding factors on pain and function of the upper limb, cognitive impairment, inability or unwilling to give informed consent or to comply with treatment protocol. Our primary outcome measure was the pain reduction measured by the VAS pain scale (VAS) at 6 weeks. Our intervention consisted in applying a pressure from 0.5 to 10kg/100mm2 for 20 minutes, once a week for 6 weeks, using the MyoDK device. Results: Thirty patients were screened. Two were excluded for incomplete protocol, remaining 28 for analysis. Mean age was 47.3, 23 were male (82.1%), 24 were affected on their dominant side (85.7%). We had a significant reduction in VAS pain score at 12 weeks (80.8 vs 13.0; p<0.01). There were no side effects reported. Conclusion: Our study showed the safety of the use of a standard protocol using the MyoDK device for treatment of CLE. We believe that further controlled studies will establish the MyoDK as a reliable option for treatment of CLE.

Keywords

• epicondylalgia treatment
• manual therapy
• transverse pressure