Tennis elbow and the cervical spine.

The exact cause of tennis elbow, a common condition, is still obscure. While the condition may well be entirely due to a local disorder at the elbow, the results of a study of 50 patients whose condition was resistant to 4 weeks of treatment directed to the elbow suggest that the underlying condition may have been (at least in these patients) a reflex localization of pain from radiculopathy at the cervical spine. Clinical, radiologic and electromyographic findings supported this suggestion. The pain was demonstrated to be muscular tenderness, which was maximal and specific at motor points. Treatment directed to the cervical spine appeared to give relief in the majority of patients. The more resistant the condition, the more severe were the radiologic and electromyographic findings in the cervical spine.