In the upper limb, lateral elbow tendinopathy is treated with debridement and excision of extensor carpi radialis brevis. However, this prospective, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial found no benefit of the excision surgery in comparison to the placebo surgery. This Recommendation is of an article referenced in a Faculty Review also written by Dimitris Challoumas, Mairiosa Biddle and Neal L Millar.