Acupuncture as an Adjunct Treatment for Lateral Epicondylitis

NCT07839533 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: E2-25-12563
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 36
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Lateral epicondylitis, commonly known as tennis elbow, can cause pain and reduced hand and wrist function. This study evaluated whether adding acupuncture to a conservative rehabilitation program provides additional benefits for adults with lateral epicondylitis. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. One group received acupuncture in addition to kinesio taping, a wrist orthosis, and a home exercise program. The other group received the same kinesio taping, wrist orthosis, and exercise program without acupuncture. Acupuncture was applied twice weekly for three weeks, for a total of six sessions. Participants were assessed before treatment, at the end of the third week, and at three months. Outcomes included pain intensity, active wrist flexion and extension range of motion, pinch strength, and hand grip strength. The study aimed to determine whether acupuncture provides additional benefits when combined with standard conservative rehabilitation for lateral epicondylitis.

Conditions

Lateral Epicondylitis

Keywords

Tennis Elbow; Lateral Epicondylitis; Acupuncture; Kinesio Taping; Wrist Orthosis; Exercise Therapy; Rehabilitation; Pain; Grip Strength; Range of Motion

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Pain Intensity From Baseline to Month 3

  Pain intensity was assessed using a 0-10 Visual Analog Scale (VAS), where 0 represents no pain and 10 represents the worst imaginable pain. The primary endpoint was the between-group difference in change in VAS pain from baseline to Month 3.

  Baseline and Month 3

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change in Active Wrist Flexion Range of Motion

  Baseline, Week 3, and Month 3

• Change in Active Wrist Extension Range of Motion

  Baseline, Week 3, and Month 3

• Change in Pinch Strength

  Baseline, Week 3, and Month 3

• Change in Hand Grip Strength

  Baseline, Week 3, and Month 3

Study Arms (2)

Adjunct Acupuncture + Multimodal Rehabilitation

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants received acupuncture in addition to kinesio taping, a custom volar wrist orthosis, and a home-based exercise program.

Procedure: Acupuncture; Procedure: Kinesio Taping; Device: Volar Wrist Orthosis; Behavioral: Home-Based Exercise Program

Multimodal Rehabilitation Without Acupuncture

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants received kinesio taping, a custom volar wrist orthosis, and a home-based exercise program without acupuncture.

Procedure: Kinesio Taping; Device: Volar Wrist Orthosis; Behavioral: Home-Based Exercise Program

Interventions

Acupuncture PROCEDURE

Acupuncture was administered twice weekly for 3 weeks, for a total of 6 sessions. Local and regional points included Ah-shi, Large Intestine 10 (LI10), Large Intestine 11 (LI11), and Lung 5 (LU5); distal and segmental points included Large Intestine 4 (LI4), San Jiao 5 (SJ5), Small Intestine 3 (SI3), Gallbladder 34 (GB34), and Liver 3 (LIV3). Sterile filiform needles were retained for 20-25 minutes and manually stimulated at approximately 5-minute intervals to elicit or maintain deqi.

Adjunct Acupuncture + Multimodal Rehabilitation

Kinesio Taping PROCEDURE

Kinesio taping was applied once weekly for 3 weeks. A 5-cm elastic therapeutic tape was applied with no stretch on the anchors and approximately 15-25% stretch over the therapeutic segments. An X/donut strip was centered over the lateral epicondyle and a Y-strip was applied along the wrist extensor muscle group.

Adjunct Acupuncture + Multimodal Rehabilitation; Multimodal Rehabilitation Without Acupuncture

Volar Wrist Orthosis DEVICE

A custom low-temperature thermoplastic volar wrist cock-up orthosis was fabricated with the wrist positioned at approximately 15-20 degrees of extension. Participants were instructed to wear the orthosis during daytime activities for 6 weeks, removing it for hygiene and skin checks.

Adjunct Acupuncture + Multimodal Rehabilitation; Multimodal Rehabilitation Without Acupuncture

Home-Based Exercise Program BEHAVIORAL

The home-based exercise program focused on eccentric wrist extensor strengthening and progressive grip exercises. Eccentric wrist extension was initiated with 0.5 kg and progressed in repetitions and load. Grip exercises using therapeutic putty were progressively performed with the elbow flexed and then extended, in supination, neutral, and pronation positions.

Adjunct Acupuncture + Multimodal Rehabilitation; Multimodal Rehabilitation Without Acupuncture

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults aged 18 to 65 years
• Clinical diagnosis of lateral epicondylitis
• Symptoms of lateral epicondylitis lasting at least 6 weeks

You may not qualify if:

• Steroid injection to the affected elbow within the previous 6 months.
• Previous elbow surgery.
• Neurological disease affecting the tested upper limb.
• Active cervical radiculopathy.
• Systemic inflammatory disease.
• Pregnancy.
• Inability to comply with the study protocol or follow-up assessments.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Enver Guven: lead

Study Sites (1)

Traditional and Complementary Medicine Clinic

Ankara, Ankara, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (4)

• MacPherson H, Altman DG, Hammerschlag R, Li Y, Wu T, White A, Moher D; STRICTA Revision Group. Revised STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA): extending the CONSORT statement. Acupunct Med. 2010 Jun;28(2):83-93. doi: 10.1136/aim.2009.001370. Epub 2010 Jun 8.

  PMID: 20615861 BACKGROUND

• McQueen KS, Powell RK, Keener T, Whalley R, Calfee RP. Role of strengthening during nonoperative treatment of lateral epicondyle tendinopathy. J Hand Ther. 2021 Oct-Dec;34(4):619-626. doi: 10.1016/j.jht.2020.10.009. Epub 2020 Oct 16.

  PMID: 33250396 BACKGROUND

• Fink M, Wolkenstein E, Karst M, Gehrke A. Acupuncture in chronic epicondylitis: a randomized controlled trial. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2002 Feb;41(2):205-9. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/41.2.205.

  PMID: 11886971 BACKGROUND

• Shin KM, Kim JH, Lee S, Shin MS, Kim TH, Park HJ, Lee MH, Hong KE, Lee S, Choi SM. Acupuncture for lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow): study protocol for a randomized, practitioner-assessor blinded, controlled pilot clinical trial. Trials. 2013 Jun 14;14:174. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-14-174.

  PMID: 23768129 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Tennis Elbow; Pain

Interventions

Acupuncture Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Elbow Tendinopathy; Tendinopathy; Muscular Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Elbow Injuries; Arm Injuries; Wounds and Injuries; Tendon Injuries; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics

Study Officials

• Enver Guven, PhD

  Ankara University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Outcome assessors were blinded to group allocation. Participants and treating clinicians could not be blinded because of the nature of the interventions, including visible acupuncture needling, kinesio taping, orthosis fitting, and supervised exercise.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to two parallel treatment groups. The intervention group received acupuncture in addition to kinesio taping, wrist orthosis, and exercise, while the control group received kinesio taping, wrist orthosis, and exercise without acupuncture.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 19, 2026
• First Posted: September 24, 2026
• Study Start: April 5, 2025
• Primary Completion: September 12, 2025
• Study Completion: September 12, 2025
• Last Updated: September 28, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: Data will be available beginning after publication of the study results and for 5 years following publication.
• Access Criteria: De-identified data will be available to qualified researchers who submit a reasonable written request to the corresponding author describing the purpose of the proposed analysis. Requests will be reviewed by the study investigators. Data will be shared only for scientifically appropriate purposes and in accordance with participant confidentiality and applicable ethical requirements.

Locations

TU (1)