Findings of studies reporting short-term outcomes (up to 12 weeks of follow-up)
| Acute/chronic tendinopathy | Treatment modes | Tendon affected | First author (year) | Pain | Functional disability | ROM | Strength | Satisfaction | Structural integrity | QoL |
| Acute | Combined isometric exercise/ice therapy versus ice therapy | Rotator cuff | Parle (2017)32 | ↔ (VAS) | ↔ (DASH) | – | ↔ | – | ↔ | – |
| Isometric exercise versus ice | Rotator cuff | Parle (2017)32 | ↔ (VAS) | ↔ (DASH) | – | ↔ | – | ↔ | – | |
| Dupuis (2018)31 | ↔ (BPI) | ↔ (DASH) | ↔ | ↔ | – | ↔ (WORC) | ||||
| Overall isometric exercise versus ice (evidence level) | ↔ (3) | ↔ (3) | ↔ (3) | ↔ (3) | ↔ (3) | ↔ (3) | ↔ (3) | |||
| Chronic | Isometric versus isotonic exercise | Patellar | van Ark (2016)36 | ↔ (NRS) | ↔ (VISA-P) | – | – | ↔ (GROC) | – | – |
| Greater trochanteric pain syndrome | Clifford (2019)17 | ↔ (NRS) | ↔ (VISA-G) | – | – | ↔ (GROC) | – | ↔ (EQ-5D-5L) | ||
| Overall isometric versus isotonic exercise (evidence level) | ↔ (3) | ↔ (3) | – | – | ↔ (3) | – | ↔ (3) | |||
| Chronic | Combined isometric/isotonic exercise versus isotonic exercise | Wrist extensors | Stasinopoulos (2017)33 | ↓ (VAS) | ↓ (pain-free grip strength) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Achilles | Gatz (2020)37 | – | ↔ (VISA-A, AOFAS) | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Overall combined isometric/isotonic exercise versus isotonic exercise (evidence level) | ↓ (3) | ↔ (3) | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Isometric exercise versus no treatment | Wrist extensors | Vuvan (2020)34 | – | ↔ (pain-free grip strength) ↓ (PRTEE) | – | – | ↔ (GROC) | – | – | |
↓: lower at statistical significance*; ↑: higher at statistical significance*; ↔: no statistically significant difference.
*With the first versus the second intervention.
AOFAS, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Score; BPI, Brief Pain Inventory; DASH, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand; EQ-5D-5L, EuroQoL 5 Dimensions 5 Level Index; GROC, Global Rating of Change; NRS, Numeric Rating Scale; PRTEE, Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation; QoL, quality of life; ROM, range of movement; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale; VISA-A, Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles tendon; VISA-G, Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-gluteal tendons; VISA-P, Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-patellar tendon; WORC, Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index.