Extracorporeal shock wave therapy for treatment of plantar fasciitis

To explore the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy in patients with chronic plantar faciitis.

The prospective study was conducted at Department of Orhopaedic, Regional Hospital, Limerick, Ireland from January to December 2004 and comprised 70 heels in 62 patients with chronic plantar fasciitis in whom conventional conservative treatment consisting of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, heel cup, orthoses and/or shoe modifications, local steroid injections had failed, and they were treated with low energy extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Patients were reviewed at 6, 12 and 24 weeks post treatment.

At follow-up there was significant decrease in pain on the visual analogue scale (p < 0.027), with significant improvement in pain score (p < 0.009) and in functional score (p < 0.001). The comfortable walking distance had increased significantly and there were no reported side effects.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy is a new modality providing good pain relief and a satisfactory clinical outcome in patients with chronic plantar fasciitis.