TENNIS ELBOW-A RADIAL TUNNEL SYNDROME?

The hypothesis that the chronic tennis-elbow syndrome is caused by an entrapment neuropathy of the radial nerve (Roles and Maudsley 1972) was put to the test prospectively in ten patients. Detailed orthopaedic, neurological and neurophysiologicai examinations did not reveal any involvement of the radial nerve. It is concluded that this syndrome cannot be explained by an entrapment neuropathy. Refractory cases of “tennis elbow ” were studied by Roles and Maudsley (1972) who put forward an hypothesis which at first sight seemed attractive. They argued that there was an entrapment neuropathy of the radial nerve produced by the fibrous edge of the supinator muscle and that if the superficial part of this muscle was divided longitudinally the pain would be relieved. This suggestion is surprising, as the deep METhODS AND MATERIAL In the period May i975 until December 1976 ten patients consecutively diagnosed as suffering from chronic tennis elbow were examined by an orthopaedic surgeon and a neurologist, and were investigated neuro-physiologically. All the patients suffered from longstanding pain, which started in the region of the lateral epicondyle of the humerus, radiated down along the radial side of the arm and in many instances slightly upwards also. The pain was never strictly localised, nor of a radicular nature. It was increased by pressure on the lateral Table I. Details of patients with resistant tennis elbo