An evaluation of the long-term effects of total plantar fasciotomy--a preliminary study

Plantar fascia release for chronic plantar fasciitis has given excellent pain relief and rapid return to activities with few reported complications. Cadaveric studies have led to the identification of some potential post-operative problems, commonly weakness of the medial longitudinal arch (MLA) and pain in the lateral midfoot.

Eight total plantar fasciotomy patients (five bilateral and three unilateral) were evaluated subjectively and objectively with regards to surgical outcome and biomechanical change. The centre of pressure (COP) and loading of the foot were measured using the F Scan mobile system and COM'nalysis software. In addition, five control subjects were evaluated with the F Scan. The reading for one foot of one of the control subjects was discarded due to a biomechanical abnormality.

The results of this study were that the COP of the foot in post-total plantar fasciotomy subjects was significantly laterally deviated throughout the propulsive phase of gait compared to that of control subjects (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in plantar pressure at the rearfoot or the first metatarsophangeal joint (MTPJt) between the post-operative and control groups (p>0.05). Six of the eight of the post-operative patients (11 feet) considered the procedure to be successful in resolving their symptoms.

Total plantar fasciotomy may result in changes to the COP of the foot. It could be extrapolated from this data, in conjunction with subjective visual clinical observations of gait, that supination of the foot could occur post-operatively rather than the pronatory state secondary to a collapsed arch that, collectively, the results of cadaver studies have suggested. The conclusions drawn from this pilot study are to some extent speculative, as the measurements were only made post-operatively and a small number of subjects were studied. Further research is required in this area.