Joost Peerbooms

91 2-year follow-up of PRP in lateral epicondylitis Table 3 Baseline Characteristics of the Successful and Nonsuccessful Groups α Successful (n = 60) Nonsuccessful (n = 40) P Value Age, mean ± SD 45.9 ± 8.7 48.8 ± 7.0 .084 Sex, male/female, no. (%) 29 (48.3)/31 (51.7) 17 (42.5)/23 (57.5) .566 Side, right/left, no. (%) 35 (58.3)/25 (41.7) 27 (67.5)/13 (32.5) .355 Treatment, PRP/ corticosteroid, no. (%) 39 (65.0)/21 (35.0) 9 (22.5)/31 (77.5) <.0001 VAS, mean ± SD 67.6 ± 14.4 70.2 ± 14.4 .382 DASH, mean ± SD 52.9 ± 17.9 45.5 ± 17.2 .044 α SD, standard deviation; PRP, platelet-rich plasma; VAS, visual analogue scale; DASH, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand outcome measure Course of DASH Disability Symptom Scores (Intention-to-Treat Principle) As shown in Figure 3A, the course of the DASH disability symptom scores showed an overall improvement ( F 6,93 = 18.4, P < .0001). The baseline DASH scores of the corticosteroid group were significantly higher compared with the scores at 8 weeks ( P < .0001) and 12 weeks after injection ( P < .006). Between baseline and 4 weeks, DASH scores significantly deteriorated ( P < .0001). Figure 3. The course of Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) disability scores across assessment points. Bars present 95% confidence intervals. Patients with chronic lat- eral epicondylitis were randomly assigned to the PRP group or the corticosteroid group. A, intention-to-treat; B, reintervention excluded. Although differences were not significant, after 12 weeks, DASH scores deteriorated. In contrast, compared with baseline scores, the scores of the PRP group significantly improved during the entire duration of the study ( P < .002). Overall, the average DASH disability symptom scores did not differ significantly between the intervention groups 6