This study was performed to evaluate the results of surgical treatment of Nirschl procedure for intractable lateral epicondylitis of the elbow.

We retrospectively reviewed the functional records of surgically treated 21 cases from the 196 cases of lateral epicondylitis, which had been followed up at least 12 months from March 2000 to May 2003. Surgery was generally considered to be indicated if six months of conservative treatments since the first diagnosis had led to no improvement of the symptoms. The patients were evaluated by assessing of Pain Analog Scales (PAS) score. The objective outcomes of all patient after surgery were investigated according to the criteria by Roles and Maudsley.

The mean PAS score followed up for 12 months postoperatively, had indicated significant improvements (p<0.001): 0.31 points (range, 0-2) at rest, 1.22 points (range, 0-3) at daily activities, and 2.25 points (range, 0-5) at sports and occupational activities. According to the Roles and Maudsley scores, there were 12 excellent, 7 good, 2 fair from the total of 21 cases; therefore, 19 (90%) cases showed the satisfactory results.

The surgical treatment using the Nirschl procedure for intractable lateral epicondylitis of the elbow is considered as one of recommendable methods for the cases of no response at the conservative treatment.