Clinical Trials

Thank you for your interest in the tennis elbow studies, conducted at the Orthopaedic Research Institute, St George Hospital, Sydney.

Tennis elbow is a relatively common condition, affecting up to 5% of people during their lifetime. Despite its name, the majority of patients with tennis elbow are not tennis players. Tennis elbow is an overuse injury, usually resulting from repetitive, often forceful, twisting and gripping movements at the wrist and elbow.

Over the years, many theories have been proposed as to the exact mechanism of this injury and, even now, it is not completely clear. At the moment, the most popular theory proposes that one of the forearm muscles is the main cause of the pain. Because this muscle starts just above the elbow and ends just below the wrist, it crosses both joints and is therefore exposed to stresses from movements at both joints. It is the attachment just above the elbow that is thought to result in the pain and weakness of tennis elbow. As the muscle and its tendon get overused, small tears start appearing. In some cases the body is unable to repair the damage on its own and tennis elbow develops.

As there are many theories on the cause of tennis elbow, there have been many different suggested treatments. Our studies look at two of these.

For patients who have had tennis elbow for at least four weeks, but no more than six months, we are investigating counterforce bracing.