ABSTRACT
This case report describes a 45-year-old male who presented with chronic right lateral elbow pain managed unsuccessfully with conservative treatment that included anti-inflammatory medication, injection, massage, exercise, bracing, taping, electro-physical agents, and manual therapy. Diagnosis of radial tunnel syndrome (RTS) was based on palpatory findings, range of motion testing, resisted isometrics, and a positive upper limb neural tension test 2b (radial nerve bias). Conventionally, the intervention for this entrapment has been surgical decompression, with successful outcomes. This is potentially a first-time report, describing the successful management of RTS with dry needling (DN) using a recently published DN grading system. Immediate improvements were noted in all the outcome measures after the first treatment, with complete pain-resolution maintained at a 6-month follow-up. A model is proposed describing the mechanism by which DN could be used to intervene for nerve entrapment interfaces.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Megan Sawatsky MPT and Chris Les MPT for their assistance in preparing this manuscript.
Declaration of interest
The author reports no conflict of interest.