Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in the treatment of plantar fasciitis

Justyna Wyszyńska
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Justyna Podgórska-Bednarz
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Anna Świtała
Julian Skrzypiec
Medical Faculty, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
Institute of Health Sciences, Medical College of Rzeszów University, Rzeszów, Poland
Outpatient Clinic of Physiotherapy – Fizjomed, Biłgoraj, Poland
Institute of Physiotherapy, Department of Medicine, University of Rzeszow, Poland
Received: 1 June 2016 / Accepted: 5 December 2016 / Published: 30 December 2016

Abstract

Introduction: Plantar fasciitis is reported as the most common cause of chronic plantar heel pain. An extra-corporeal shock waves have been used in the treatment of plantar fasciitis with promising results.

Aim: The purpose of this paper was to present results from randomized controlled trials to estimate of the effectiveness of ESWT in the treatment of plantar fasciitis.

Method: MEDLINE, EBCO, PubMed, ScienceDirect and SpringerLink databases were searched, using the keywords: ESWT, plantar fasciitis, shock wave, randomized clinical trials.

Results: Ten randomized clinical trials was critically appraised. Eight studies report significant decreases in pain symptoms and better function scores associated with an extra-corporeal shock wave therapy. However two studies show no meaningful improvement of clinical outcome in patients treated with extracorporeal shock wave therapy for chronic plantar fasciitis compared with placebo.

Summary: In most cases shockwaves therapy was a safe and effective method for treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis and helped the patient to avoid surgery for recalcitrant heel pain but warrants further larger studies.

 

Cite

Wyszyńska J, Podgórska-Bednarz J, Świtała A, Skrzypiec J. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Medical Review 2016; 14 (4): 465–472. doi: 10.15584/medrev.2016.4.9

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