Losing (and Regaining) Your Grip

Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is a painful and persistent problem that can be transient or chronic. The syndrome is caused by overuse of the elbow, although not always caused by one too many games of tennis.​Lateral epicondylitis is an inflammation of the tendons that join the forearm muscles to the outside of the elbow. Overused and abused tendons can be damaged or even destroyed. Performing the same repetitive motions over and over again can irritate and annoy the tendons, resulting in severe pain, tenderness, and even inability to use the affected extremity.Many treatments are available for lateral epicondylitis, but steroid injections are the gold standard for chronic pain. Supportive treatments such as NSAIDs, RICE, heat, and physical therapy can also tackle the issue. Steroid injections with a long-acting corticosteroid (such as methylprednisolone) combined with 1-2% lidocaine can ease symptoms in two to four days, and can be completed in the emergency department.Dr. James Roberts pointing at where the steroid injection is going to be placed.​PresentationPatients often complain of gradual, slowly increasing pain over their elbow and lateral forearm. They say it has been going on for about a month, but got worse over the past week. Usually no specific injury or insult occurred, but patients feel pain and burning on the outer part of the elbow. The pain has generally gotten so bad that it causes weakness in the grip strength of the hand. Occasiona...
Source: The Procedural Pause - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs