Musculoskeletal ultrasonographic evaluation of perineural injection therapy versus therapeutic ultrasound in chronic lateral epicondylitis

Egyptian Rheumatology and Rehabilitation

Table 5 Comparison of tenderness grading scale, pain intensity measured by VAS scale, PRTEE score, and US findings after treatment in both groups

Clinical scores	PNI therapy group (post-treatment) (n = 15)	TUS therapy group (post-treatment) (n = 15)	p value	Significance
Tenderness grading scale [median (range)]	1 (0–2)	2 (1–3)	0.043	S^*
VAS [median (range)]	2 (1–5)	2 (1–7)	0.234	NS^*
PRTEE score (mean ± SD)	24.40 ± 11.86	33.27 ± 8.40	0.025	S^*
US findings	US findings post-treatment (PNI group)	US findings post-treatment (TUS group)	p value
Hypoechoic area in CET (+ve/−ve) no.	3/12	7/8	0.121	NS^§
Disturbed fibrillar pattern (+ve/−ve) no.	3/12	7/8	0.121	NS^¶
Tendon thickness (cm) (mean ± SD)	0.529 ± 0.044	0.529 ± 0.067	1	NS^*
Enthesophyte (+ve/−ve) no.	8/7	7/8	0.715	NS^¶
Osteophyte (+ve/−ve) no.	4/11	3/12	1	NS^§
Calcification (+ve/−ve) no.	3/12	2/13	1	NS^§
Bone surface irregularity/erosion (+ve/−ve) no.	8/7	9/6	0.713	NS^¶
Tendon tear (+ve/−ve) no.	1/14	1/14	1	NS^§
Power Doppler signal (+ve/−ve) no.	0/15	1/14	1	NS^¶

Statistical methods used ^¶Chi-square test, ^*independent t test, and ^§Fisher exact test
CET common extensor tendon
The p value was considered non-significant (NS) if p > 0.05, significant (S) if p ≤ 0.05, highly significant (HS) if p ≤ 0.01, and very highly significant (HS) if p < 0.001
The table showed that the tenderness grading scale and the PRTEE score were more significantly decreased in PNI therapy group than in the TUS therapy group post-intervention (p values 0.043 and 0.025), respectively. The VAS and US findings manifest a statistically non-significant differences in both groups post-treatment