Elbow pain often presents a diagnostic dilemma. Intra-articular pathologies, local soft tissues and neural structures may be primary sources of nociception, with psychosocial and environmental factors contributing to symptom severity and chronicity. This course will collectively present assessment, differential diagnosis, and management of elbow conditions. The aim of this course is to provide clinicians with an opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills relevant to client-centred assessment and treatment of common elbow conditions.

This course will comprehensively review the underlying mechanisms and pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, assessment and management of elbow disorders. This course is suitable for clinicians with clinical experience in musculoskeletal and sports injuries, interested in updating their knowledge and improving their skills in the management of elbow injuries.

Chronic elbow pain reflects a complex aetiology. Understanding the contribution of local tissue pathology, and sensory and motor system impairments to the individual’s clinical presentation of elbow pain will assist clinicians in implementing an effective treatment program. This course is designed to give clinicians applied knowledge of the latest evidence regarding individualising treatment for people with chronic elbow injuries and will present a contemporary, evidence-based clinical pathway for treatment of elbow pain, and discuss treatment options based on clinical presentation, prognostic indicators and underlying pathophysiology.

Specific Aims

At the completion of this course, participants will:

1. Understand important anatomical and biomechanical relationships with elbow function and mechanisms of injury
2. Demonstrate applied knowledge of the latest evidence regarding aetiology, differential diagnoses, and predictors of recovery in people with elbow pain
3. Perform skilled assessment techniques relevant to intra-articular pathology, instability, tendinopathy and peripheral nerve entrapment at the elbow
4. Apply the evidence to clinical reasoning for the management of elbow injuries (conservative, injection, surgical)
5. Demonstrate refined manual therapy, neurodynamic and exercise prescription skills for the assessment and management of elbow injuries.

Timetable and Learning Activities

This course has been designed to maximize integration of theory and practice, and will be presented as a combination of workshops, tutorials, practical sessions, and online resources. 

Interactive online quizzes will be used to stimulate knowledge translation and identify topics that require further clarification. In order to maximise your participation in this workshop, all participants should bring an electronic device that has internet access capabilities.

Bio

Dr Leanne Bisset PhD, Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, Australian College of Physiotherapists.

Associate Professor Leanne Bisset is an experienced, titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist of the Australian College of Physiotherapists, with a national and international reputation for clinical and research expertise in the field of upper limb musculoskeletal pain. Dr Bisset has over 80 publications (>3500 citations) in many top-ranking journals in Sports Medicine, Rheumatology and Orthopaedics. She has co-authored 6 invited book chapters on contemporary assessment and non-surgical management of people with elbow conditions, and has a successful track record in competitive research funding and higher degree research supervision. Her previous roles include Academic Lead and Program Director of Physiotherapy (Griffith University), Associate Editor with the journal Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, external assessor of post-graduate musculoskeletal physiotherapy programs and volunteer roles in the Australian Physiotherapy Association. Dr Bisset has been invited to present her research and clinical work in various international and national conferences and workshops. She has been the invited presenter for the Australian Physiotherapy Association workshops on elbow pain since 2017. Dr Bisset is ranked 3rd in the world for authors published on elbow tendinopathy, and in the top 0.2% of ~21,500 authors worldwide who have published on tendinopathy in general (Expertscape).