title: The Use of the MyoDK for Mechanical Pressure in the Treatment of Chronic Lateral Epicondylalgia: A Pilot Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic Lateral Epicondylalgia (CLE) is potentially associated with a significant reduction of the patient's quality of life; its treatment by manual Deep Transverse Friction (DTF), although widely accepted, lacks standardization. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of the MyoDK device, which allows deep transverse pressure (DTP) monitoring, for treatment of CLE.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a single centre observational study for treatment of CLE by the MyoDK device. In a given year, all patients who appeared at our institution with a diagnostic of CLE were screened for possible inclusion. Exclusion criteria were: confounding factors on pain and function of the upper limb, cognitive impairment, inability or unwilling to give informed consent or to comply with treatment protocol. Our primary outcome measure was the pain reduction measured by the VAS pain scale (VAS) at 6 weeks. Our intervention consisted in applying a pressure from 0.5 to 10kg/100mm(2) for 20 minutes, once a week for 6 weeks, using the MyoDK device.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty patients were screened. Two were excluded for incomplete protocol, remaining 28 for analysis. Mean age was 47.3, 23 were male (82.1%), 24 were affected on their dominant side (85.7%). We had a significant reduction in VAS pain score at 12 weeks (80.8 vs 13.0; p<0.01). There were no side effects reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed the safety of the use of a standard protocol using the MyoDK device for treatment of CLE. We believe that further controlled studies will establish the MyoDK as a reliable option for treatment of CLE.
authors.affiliation: Medical Practionner, Departement of Musculo-skeletal Rehabilitation, Leukerbad Clinic , Leukerbad, Switzerland .
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Outrequin
authors.affiliation: Hospital Surgeon, Departement of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, Centre Hospitalier dArgenteuil , Argenteuil, France .
authors.forename: Farshid
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moshiri
authors.affiliation: Faculty, Departement of Internal Medecine, LSU Shreveport, USA .
authors.forename: Rahim Khorassani
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Zadeh
keywords: Epicondylalgia treatment; Manual therapy; Transverse pressure