Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38425735›Full record

ReviewShoulder & elbow2024

Physical therapy intervention versus corticosteroid injection for lateral elbow tendinopathy. Does slow and steady win the race? - A systematic review.

Shivam Sharma, Prerana Berwal, Nishank Verma, Avaneesh Kumar Pandey, Somya Saxena, Nanda Gamad

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Shoulder & elbow, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Comparison of extracorporeal shockwave therapy, ultrasound therapy, and corticosteroid injections for treatment of lateral epicondylitis: an umbrella review of meta-analyses.Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology · 2025
    Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Shivam SharmaDepartment of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8149-1304
Prerana BerwalDepartment of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Nishank VermaDepartment of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Avaneesh Kumar PandeyDepartment of Pharmacology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Somya SaxenaDepartment of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Nanda GamadDepartment of Pharmacology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research · IN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Lateral elbow tendinopathy is one of the most common chronic and degenerative diseases which significantly affects quality of life and the activities of daily living of a person. The following is a systematic review reporting a comparison between physical therapy intervention and corticosteroid injection for the treatment of lateral elbow tendinopathy. Method: PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched using headings related to treatment options for Lateral elbow tendinopathy. The following keywords were used: lateral epicondylitis, physical therapy, and corticosteroid injection. Result: We descriptively analyzed and reviewed a total of 12 studies including a total of 1253 patients for lateral elbow tendinopathy. The physical therapy intervention included interventions like electrotherapy, manual therapy, and exercise. The studies included had an overall low to unknown risk of bias. Conclusion: Our review suggests corticosteroid injection provides beneficial short-term effects and physical therapy interventions provide intermediate to long-term effects, less additional treatment and low recurrence rate in patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy. Although high-quality randomized control trials are required in order to have a better understanding of both intervention types.

Indexed as

corticosteroidelbowlateral elbow tendinopathyPhysical therapysystematic review

Identifiers

PMID38425735
PMCPMC10901174
OpenAlexW4309323045

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.