Effect of the combined isotonic technique for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation and taping on pain and grip strength in patients with lateral epicondylitis: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the combined isotonic technique (CIT) for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation and taping intervention on pain and grip strength in patients with lateral epicondylitis (LE). Twenty subjects with LE were treated 5 times a week for 4 weeks. Patients were randomized to an experimental group (n=10) with taping after CIT and a control group (n=10) with taping after stretching. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to measure chang-es in pain. A hand dynamometer was used to measure grip strength. A paired t-test was performed to compare differences after the interven-tion. We used an independent t-test to compare the differences be-tween experimental and control groups. All statistical significance lev-els were set at α=0.05. Within-group changes in VAS and grip strength were significantly different in both the experimental and control groups (P < 0.05). Between-groups after intervention, VAS and grip strength showed more improvement in the experimental group than in the con-trol group (P < 0.05). This study showed that by applying CIT and taping to patients with LE, significant improvement in pain and grip strength could be obtained. Since the intervention had positive effects on LE by reducing pain and increasing grip strength, additional studies on effi-cient intervention will be conducted to develop exercise programs.