What the study is about
A January 2025 article published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine examined lateral elbow tendinopathy, also known as tennis elbow, which causes pain on the outside of the elbow and often affects adults between ages 35 and 50. When rest and physiotherapy don’t help, doctors sometimes use injections. The researchers compared four options: Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP), corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid (HA), and saline to see which reduced pain and improved function the most over one year.
How the study was done
The study included 60 adults who had tennis elbow for at least three months without improvement. They were randomly placed into one of the four injection groups and each received a single injection. All patients followed the same stretching and strengthening program afterward. They were tested before treatment and again at 1, 4, 12, 24, and 52 weeks, measuring pain, arm function, and muscle strength. The researchers originally planned for 120 patients but were only able to enroll 60.
What the study found
- All four groups improved over time in pain, strength, and function.
- After one year, results were very similar across all injection types.
- Corticosteroids reduced pain faster in the first few weeks.
- PRP, HA, corticosteroids, and saline showed no major long-term differences.
- Some patients in the PRP and saline groups had short-term pain increases.
- No serious side effects were reported.
What this means
The results suggest that while these injections can help tennis elbow, none clearly outperformed the others in the long run. Corticosteroids worked faster early on, but one-year outcomes were similar to the other treatments, including saline. Since PRP and HA are more expensive, the findings raise questions about whether they are worth the cost. And in general, since non out-preformed saline, your best bet is likely to avoid injection all together and continue with rehab exercises and being patient- these things take time!
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