Ultrasonographic comparison of the lateral epicondyle in wheelchair-user (and able-bodied) tennis players: A pilot study

Objective: To evaluate whether manual wheelchair use and wheelchair tennis are associated with increased risk of lateral epicondylosis (LE). We hypothesized that the prevalence of LE would be highest in WC tennis players, followed by tennis players, WC users, and able-bodied subjects.Study design: Prospective cross-sectional pilot study.Setting: Milwaukee VAMC (clinic), National Veterans Wheelchair Games 2016 (medical event coverage).Participants: Wheelchair users, able-bodied controls, tennis players, non-tennis players.Interventions: Subjects meeting inclusion criteria underwent ultrasound examination of the dominant elbow evaluating for characteristics of LE (n = 83).Outcome measurements: Prevalence of LE between groups. Statistical analysis included odds ratios (OR), univariate and multivariate logistic regression.Results: There was no significant difference in diagnosis of LE between groups when comparing prevalence, unadjusted odds ratios, and predicted probabilities. When adjusted for age, able-bod...