Recruiting

Traditional & Non-Traditional

Sponsor:

University of Vermont

Code:

NCT07385677

Conditions

Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy (Tennis Elbow)

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

TINLL techniques for relieving radial nerve tension

Traditional techniques to stretch and strengthen muscles

Study Details

Brief summary:

Lateral elbow pain can significantly limit people's ability to do the activities they want or need to do. We want to explore if one treatment technique is better than another for people with lateral elbow pain.

You will be placed in a traditional treatment group or in a non-traditional treatment group. Your placement in the group will depend on past treatments you have had for this pain.

Before you start treatment, you will be given four tests: 1) a grip strength test, 2) a pinch test, 3) a pain level survey, and 4) a functional survey. These four tests will take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. These four tests are common tests given to people with elbow pain. You will be given these four tests:

  • At the beginning, before you start treatment
  • At 2-weeks
  • At 4-weeks
  • At the end of your treatment

Traditional treatment group: You will receive treatment 1x/week for 4-6 weeks. The traditional treatment group will consist of the following treatments:

  • stretching and strengthening of the wrist extensors
  • soft tissue work to the forearm muscles
  • joint mobilization at the elbow
  • rigid and elastic taping with focus on the wrist extensor muscles
  • ergonomic strategies
  • transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
  • wrist splinting

Non-traditional (TINLL) treatment group: You will receive treatment 1x/every 1-2-weeks for 4-6 weeks. The non-traditional (TINLL) treatment group will consist of the following treatments:

  • joint and tendon mobilization at the elbow
  • elastic tape for muscles and nerves
  • stretching/strengthening of the muscles at the elbow and upper arm
  • ergonomic strategies

Conditions

Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy (Tennis Elbow)

Study ID

NCT07385677

Start date

Nov 26, 2024

Status verified date

Jan, 2026

Completion date

Nov 26, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Nov 26, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • understanding of English language; adults 18 years of age or older
  • referral for lateral sided elbow pain or lateral epicondylitis
  • subjects positive on one of the following (tenderness over lateral epicondyle with palpation
  • pain with stretch of long wrist extensors
  • pain with resisted wrist or middle finger extension)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • subjects unable to cognitively follow directions
  • have a legally-mandated reporter
  • subjects scheduled for surgery, or post-up surgical patients
  • subjects with carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome/medial elbow pain,
  • subjects who received Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) or percutaneous needle tenotomy (PNT)

Study Design

Enrollment

68 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Non randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: TINLL

  • radial head mobilization
  • biceps tendon mobilization with movement to address joint alignment, neural tension, and the superficial sensory nervous system.
  • elastic tape cross fiber inhibition 50% stretch over distal biceps
  • elastic tape radial head stabilization with 80% stretch
  • biceps stretching/lengthening
  • pectoralis major stretching
  • scapular strengthening
  • triceps and supinator strengthening
  • ergonomic strategies

active comparator: Traditional

  • stretching of the wrist extensors
  • isometric, concentric, and/or eccentric strengthening of the finger extensors, wrist extensors, pronator, and supinator muscles
  • elbow joint manipulation or mobilization (such as mobilization with movement (MWM) as developed by Mulligan)
  • soft tissue mobilization techniques to the forearm muscles
  • instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) to the forearm muscles
  • rigid taping techniques and elastic taping application as part of a multimodal treatment program focused on common extensors
  • ergonomic strategies
  • transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
  • wrist orthosis/splinting

Interventions

TINLL techniques for relieving radial nerve tension

1x/week for 4-6 weeks or less if patient responds well to the treatment

Traditional techniques to stretch and strengthen muscles

1x/week for 4-6 weeks unless patients responds well to treatment

Primary outcome measure

  • Patient rated tennis elbow evaluation (PRTEE) [ Time Frame: Day 1, 2-week appointment, 4-week appointment ]
  • pain-free grip strength [ Time Frame: Day 1, 2-week appointment, 4-week appointment ]
  • numeric rating scale for pain [ Time Frame: Day 1, 2-week appointment, 4-week appointment ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Victoria Priganc, PhD

802-777-1477victoria.priganc@med.uvm.edu

Locations

Orthopedica and Rehabilitation Center - Occupational Therapy/Hand Therapy, University of Vermont Medical Center

Recruiting

South Burlington, Vermont, United States, 05403

Contacts

Chelsea Witt, MS

802-847-7910chelsea.witt@uvmhealth.org

Jennifer Elsinger, BS

802-847-7910jennifer.elsinger@uvmhealth.org

More Information

Sponsor

University of Vermont

Last update posted

Feb 4, 2026

Last verified

Jan, 2026

Keywords

  • lateral elbow pain
  • radial nerve

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Vermont on 2026-02-04.