Safety and efficacy of a novel Agnikarma device and conventional Agnikarma method in the management of Tennis elbow pain - A pilot study.

Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a common condition of young and middle aged people, where the patient complains of pain in the elbow particularly in certain movements like pouring the tea, turning of stiff door handle, lifting the mug etc. Due to unaccustomed use there will be damage to the common extensor origin which is attached to the lateral epicondyle. Damage is followed by subsequent adhesions with untorn fibers and joint capsule. It is clinically diagnosed by sensation of pain and tenderness at the lateral epicondyle of humerus, which aggravates during the resisted dorsiflexion of the wrist and fingers.  Tennis elbow may be correlated with the condition of Snayugata vata, described in Ayurveda. Ayurveda has advocated various treatment modalities such as Snehana, Upanaha, Agnikarma and Bandhana for snayugatavata. Among these Agnikarma seems to be more effective in providing instant symptomatic relief. Agnikarma is a therapeutic heat burn therapy performed with the help of hot Shalaka (Probe) and it is an effective procedure for management of pain in Ayurveda. This  pilot trial aims to evaluate the comparative safety and efficacy of a Novel Agnikarma device and conventional agnikarma method in reducing pain of Tennis elbow.  20 subjects satisfying the inclusion criteria will be screened and selected for the study.  The criteria of assessment is pain, tenderness,  response to Cozen’s test  and post operative assessment – Burn, Allergic reactions, surgical site infections, other adverse events. The subjects will be  assessed before treatment, immediately after treatment  and on 7th day of treatment using required assessment scales