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Long term effects of high intensity laser therapy in lateral epicondylitis patients

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate short- and long-term effects of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) in lateral epicondylitis (LE) patients. Thirty patients with LE diagnosis (23 unilateral and 7 bilateral in total 37 elbows) were treated using HILT. LE patients were evaluated before, right after, and 6 months following HILT intervention post-treatment using visual analogue scale for pain (VAS) during activity and resting. Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) Score and hand grip strength test (HGST) were used. The participants of the present study were also evaluated using Short-Form 36 (SF-36) before and 6 months after the treatment. Out of the 30 patients, 8 were male and 22 female with a mean age of 47.2 ± 9.7. The activity and resting VAS, DASH, and HGST scores revealed statistically significant improvement (p = 0.001) following treatment. Whereas VAS activity, DASH, and HGST scores increased after treatment until post-treatment 6 months significantly (p = 0.001), VAS resting scores remained stable (p = 0.476). A statistically significant improvement was also evident in the physical and mental components of SF-36 scores following treatment until post-treatment 6 months compared to pre-treatment scores (p = 0.001). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that HILT is a reliable, safe, and effective treatment option in LE patients in the short and long term considering pain, functional status, and quality of life.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Harun Simsek for editing the present manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Konya Education and Research Hospital, Hacı Şaban Mah., Meram Yeniyol Caddesi No:97, Konya, 42090, Turkey

    Ekrem Akkurt, Halim Yılmaz & Selman Parlak

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Meram Medical School of Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey

    Sami Kucuksen & Ali Sallı

  3. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Kırıkkale University, Kırıkkale, Turkey

    Gülten Karaca

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  1. Ekrem Akkurt
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  2. Sami Kucuksen
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  3. Halim Yılmaz
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  4. Selman Parlak
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  5. Ali Sallı
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  6. Gülten Karaca
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Correspondence to Ekrem Akkurt.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Ethical statement

The current study has not been sent to any journal for consideration except Lasers in Medical Science. All of the authors agreed to submit this study (Long-Term Effects of High-Intensity Laser Therapy in Lateral Epicondylitis Patients) to Lasers in Medical Science to be published. The authors whose names appear on this submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and, therefore, share collective responsibility and accountability for the results.

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Akkurt, E., Kucuksen, S., Yılmaz, H. et al. Long term effects of high intensity laser therapy in lateral epicondylitis patients. Lasers Med Sci 31, 249–253 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-015-1841-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-015-1841-3

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