A Review of Treatments for Iliotibial Band Syndrome in the Athletic Population

Table 1

Conservative treatment.

Study	Number of participants	Study type	Therapeutic regimen (all groups)	Group specific therapy	Comparison between groups	Outcomes, conclusions
Schwellnus et al. [10]	43 runners	RCT	Day 0–7: rest ice and medication, daily stretching; Days 3, 5, and 7 DTFM	Group 1: placebo; 2: anti-inflammatory (Voltaren); 3: anti-inflammatory/analgesic combo (Myprodol)	Group 3 had less pain and increased running time/distance from day 0 to 7	All treatments are effective; analgesic/anti-inflammatory is superior
Gunter and Schwellnus [11]	18 runners	RCT	No running for 14 days after injection and ice for 30 min every 12 hrs.	Group 1: corticosteroid injection (methylprednisolone acetate 40 mg); Group 2: placebo injection	Using a visual analogue scale for pain perception, significant (𝑃=0.01) decrease in pain during running in group 1	Local corticosteroid infiltration effectively decreases pain during running in the first 2 wks of treatment of ITBS; Group 1 avg. of 53.6% decreases in pain from day 0 to 14
Pinshaw et al. [12]	24 runners	Case series	Softer running shoes, correct leg-length discrepancies, reduce training distance, ice 30 min. BID		Response to treatment was variable, even some who followed treatment judiciously did not benefit	After 8 weeks, 44% were 100% cured, 22% were 75% cured, and 34% were 50% or less cured
Fredericson et al. [2]	24 (10 M 14 F) injured runners,; 30 (16 M 14 F) controls	Case series	Injured runners enrolled in a 6-week rehab to strengthen gluteus medius	Statistically significant (𝑃<0.05) higher hip abductor torque in control group compared to injured runners.	After rehab females increased hip abductor torque 34.9%, males 51.4%	22/24 athletes were pain-free and able to return to running, with recurrence at 6 months