The Effectiveness of Short Term Soft-Tissue Treatment Procedure Using Indiba Fascia in the Rehabilitation of Acute Lateral Epicondylitis

Lateral epicondylitis is one of the most common conditions in the elbow joint and can affect professional and amateur tennis players as well. Modern radiofrequency therapies are growing their popularity in the rehabilitation of acute and chronic sport injuries. Indiba Activ is a noninvasive technology and operates at 448 kHz. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the soft tissue mobilization techniques using Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) electrodes of Indiba Fascia technology in the treatment of acute "tennis elbow". 10 amateur tennis players who experienced specific symptoms for less than 3 months were divided into 2 groups: IA (Indiba Activ application using resistive electrode) and IF (Indiba Fascia treatment using IASTM electrodes). Each group received a daily specific therapy using Indiba equipment (15 minutes at a medium and subthermal unit) combined with manual therapy for 2 weeks. The evaluation of the pacient was done before and after the 2nd week of the treatment and had been made using Visual Analogue Scale and the Pacient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation Questionnaire (PRTEE). The results confirm that both therapies using Indiba device can produce significant improvements in terms of pain in acute lateral epicondylitis, a slightly better score being obtained by IF group after two weeks of treatment. Future controlled studies are needed to establish a successful combined therapy for a longer rehabilitation plan.