This 2008 JAAOS review by Calfee et al. covers the full management spectrum of lateral epicondylitis — from anatomy and histopathology through nonsurgical modalities and surgical techniques — asking which treatments actually work and at what time horizon.
When a patient with lateral elbow pain fails 6–12 months of nonsurgical management, counsel them that open, arthroscopic, and percutaneous release yield equivalent long-term results — but arthroscopic release allows faster return to function and permits simultaneous treatment of intra-articular pathology (present in up to 44% of surgical cases).
Before any steroid injection, warn the patient that short-term relief often comes at the cost of equivalent or inferior outcomes at one year, plus real risks of tendon rupture and skin atrophy.
This 2008 JAAOS review by Calfee et al. covers the full management spectrum of lateral epicondylitis — from anatomy and histopathology through nonsurgical modalities and surgical techniques — asking which treatments actually work and at what time horizon.
When a patient with lateral elbow pain fails 6–12 months of nonsurgical management, counsel them that open, arthroscopic, and percutaneous release yield equivalent long-term results — but arthroscopic release allows faster return to function and permits simultaneous treatment of intra-articular pathology (present in up to 44% of surgical cases).
Before any steroid injection, warn the patient that short-term relief often comes at the cost of equivalent or inferior outcomes at one year, plus real risks of tendon rupture and skin atrophy.