Jornal de novas fisioterapias

Abstrato

Effectiveness of Iontophoresis for Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy

Stasinopoulos Dimitrios, Papadopoulos Konstantinos and Konstantinou Antonis

Abstract Objective: The aim of the present review was to determine the effectiveness of iontophoresis in the management of lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET) and to provide recommendations based on this evidence. Background data: LET is a common clinical condition, and a wide array of physiotherapy treatments is used for treating LET.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) identified by a search strategy in six databases were used in combination with reference checking. RCTs that included iontophoresis, patients with LET, and at least one of the clinically relevant outcome measures were selected. Aqualitative analysis of the selected studies was conducted using the Chalmers’ technique.

Results: Four RCTs fulfilled the criteria and were included in the review. Although these studies had satisfactory methodology, shortcomings were not absent; conflicting results were revealed as to the effectiveness of iontophoresis for LET management.

Conclusions: Iontophoresis need not be ruled out for LET as it is a dose-response modality, and the optimal treatment dose has obviously not yet have been discovered. Further research with well-designed RCTs is needed to establish the absolute and relative effectiveness of this intervention for LET.