Some gold standard
Probably the first ever placebo-controlled study of surgery for tennis elbow … and disappointing. The experimenter scathingly concludes:
There is no benefit to be gained from the gold standard tennis elbow surgery over placebo surgery … in fact, the Nirschl procedure may increase the morbidity of the condition in the immediate post-operative period.
Kroslak. Surgical treatment of lateral epicondylitis: A prospective, randomised, blinded, placebo controlled pilot study. Unpublished. 2012.