• Leonid Kalichman, Raveendhara R Bannuru, Marianne Severin, and William Harvey.
• Department of Physical Therapy, Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. kleonid@bgu.ac.il
• Semin. Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Jun 1;40(6):532-8.

ObjectivesLateral epicondylitis can be chronic and difficult to manage with conservative measures such as physical therapy and corticosteroid injection. We attempted to determine the efficacy of botulinum toxin for the treatment of chronic lateral epicondylitis.MethodsWe searched PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, EMBASE, PEDro, and ISI web of Science databases from inception until November 2009. Studies were included if they used any formulation of botulinum toxin A for treatment of chronic lateral epicondylitis and reported at least 1 pain outcome. One author extracted the relevant data using a standardized data extraction sheet and a second author checked the data. We performed a meta-analysis by computing effect sizes for each study separately for pain and grip strength at 3 months after injection. Impact of bias was assessed independently by 2 authors.ResultsThe search found 10 studies relevant to the question. Four of these were randomized controlled trials that could be pooled in a meta-analysis. Results showed a moderate effect for pain favoring botulinum toxin (effect size -0.5, 95% CI -0.9, -0.1, I(2) = 56%) at 3 months and a no effect for grip strength. Qualitative analysis of the studies that could not be pooled also showed improvement in pain, but was limited by potential bias.ConclusionsPresent literature provides support for use of botulinum toxin A injections into the forearm extensor muscles (60 units) for treatment of chronic treatment-resistant lateral epicondylitis. It is minimally invasive and can be performed in an outpatient setting.Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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