Thesis : Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of requirements of the Doctoral Degree of Physical Therapy Department of Basic Sciences

The lateral epicondylitis reported to be one of the most common upper extremity disorders with a well-defined clinical presentation and functional limitations that include impaired job performance and activities of daily living.
to evaluate efficacy of phonophoresis combined with chitosan nanoparticles on patients with lateral epicondylitis.
single blind randomized controlled trial
Sixty patients diagnosed with lateral epicondylitis selected were allocated randomly into two groups. group (A) (study group, n=30) received phonophoresis combined with chitosan nanoparticles in addition to standard physical therapy program, while group (B) (control group, n=30) received the standard physical therapy program in the form of rest, activity modification, patient education, stretching and strengthening exercises. All treatment sessions were held 3 days/week, for 4 weeks with a total of 12 sessions. Measurements were performed for pre and post treatment comparison which included pain assessment by numerical pain rating scale, grip strength by handheld dynamometer, functional status by tennis elbow functions scale (TEFS).
Results: Statistical analysis using 2x3 mixed design MANOVA indicated statistically significant improvement in both groups regarding Hand grip strength, pain level and tennis elbow function scale (p< 0.05). However, there was a statistically significant improvement in group (A) than group (B) for Hand grip strength, pain level and tennis elbow function scale at posttreatment (p< 0.05). Conclusion: the results of this study showed that adding phonophoresis with chitosan nanoparticles to standard physical therapy was more effective than using standard physical therapy alone for treatment of lateral epicondylitis.