Purpose: The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of proximal motor control including scapular muscles strength added to conventional physical therapy on pain, hand grip strength and arm function in patients with LE.
Methods: Fifty-two patients with chronic LE were divided into 2 equal groups, group A received scapular muscles (lower trapezius, middle trapezius and serratus anterior) strength added to traditional physical therapy (pulsed ultrasound, static stretching of extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) muscle and eccentric exercises of wrist extensors) while group B received traditional physical therapy only.
Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between groups in pain (effect size = 2.46), function (effect size = 2.69) and hand grip strength ( effect size = 0.96) (p-value = 0.001) and there was a significant difference within groups post trearment compared with that pre treatment (p-value = 0.001).
Conclusion: Adding proximal motor control including scapular muscles strength to conventional physical therapy program decreased pain, increased hand grip strength and improved function significantly in patients with LE.
Keywords: Lateral Epicondylitis, Scapular muscles strength, Kinetic chain theory, Proximal motor control.