Is wrist splint more effective than forearm band for lateral epicondylitis

INTRODUCCION: La epicondilitis lateral es una causa comun de dolor lateral de codo. Existen numerosos tratamientos que han reportado disminuir los sintomas, entre ellos el uso de ortesis. Las principales ortesis disponibles para este efecto son las bandas de antebrazo y las munequeras. Actualmente no esta claro cual de ellos constituiria la mejor alternativa de tratamiento sintomatico. METHODS: To answer this question we used Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We identified three systematic reviews including four studies overall, all of them randomized trials. With this evidence, we concluded there might be no difference in global measure of improvement and pain free grip strength between the forearm band and wrist splint, and it is not clear whether using a wrist splint decreases pain in comparison with a forearm band, because the certainty of the evidence is very low.