Abstract:

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave（ESW）in treating epicondylitis of humerus through short⁃to⁃medium follow⁃up. Methods A total of 104 patients with epicondylitis humerus were randomly divided into ESW group（n = 50），and traditional treatment group（n = 54）for one course of treatment（once a week，4 weeks as a course of treatment）. The visual analogue scale（VAS）score，recurrence rate，and patient satisfaction of the two groups were compared before，at the end of，and 4，24 and 48 weeks after the treatment. Results There was no significant difference in terms of VAS score when at rest and making fist between the two groups at the end of and 4 weeks after the treatment（P > 0.05）but at the end of，24 and 48 weeks after the treatment，the ESW group had lower VAS score when at rest and making fist and difference was statistically significant（P < 0.05）. Short⁃to⁃medium follow⁃up showed recurrence rate and satisfaction rate in ESW group was 8.00% and 76.0%，respectively，and that was 29.63% and 55.56% in the traditional treatment group，indicating statistical significance（P < 0.05）. Conclusion Both ESW and local closure therapy are effective for epicondylitis of the humerus. Short ⁃to ⁃mid ⁃term follow ⁃up shows that ESW has a longer duration，lower recurrence rate，and 

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