title: Long-term results of radial extracorporeal shock wave treatment for chronic plantar fasciopathy: A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with two years follow-up.
abstract: Numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrated efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for chronic plantar fasciopathy (cPF). However, only two such RCTs investigated a follow-up period of more than 1 year, both applying focused ESWT. Corresponding data for radial ESWT (rESWT) have not yet been reported. We therefore tested the hypothesis that rESWT is effective and safe for the management of cPF with long-term follow-up of 2 years. To this end n = 50 patients with cPF were randomly allocated to either two sessions of rESWT (one session per week; 2,000 shock waves with energy flux density of 0.16 mJ/mm2per session) (n = 25) or to placebo treatment (n = 25). Evaluation was by change in Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score and Roles and Maudsley (RM) score. Mean pretreatment VAS scores for the rESWT and placebo groups were 8.5 and 8.9, respectively. 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after treatment, the mean VAS scores for the rESWT and placebo groups were 0.6, 1.1, 0.5, 2.3, and 1.4 and 7.6, 7.7, 7.4, 6.9, and 5.6 (p < 0.001), respectively. Differences in mean RM scores were statistically significant between groups at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post treatment, but not at baseline. There were no significant complications. These data indicate that rESWT is effective and safe for the management of cPF with long-term follow-up of 2 years. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:1532-1538, 2017.
authors: Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, Provo 84601, Utah.|Department of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors: Mahmoud I
authors: MI
authors: Ibrahim
authors: Outreach Sports Programs Physiotherapy Associates, Las Vegas, Nevada.
authors: Robert A
authors: RA
authors: Donatelli
authors: Department of Physical Therapy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
authors: Madeleine
authors: M
authors: Hellman
authors: Faculty of Physical Therapy, Pharos University, Alexandria, Egypt.
authors: Ahmed Z
authors: AZ
authors: Hussein
authors: SUN Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Division of Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg 17837, Pennsylvania.
authors: John P
authors: JP
authors: Furia
authors: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Research Unit, Department of Anatomy II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Pettenkoferstr. 11, Munich D-80336, Germany.
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Schmitz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D036981:Fasciitis, Plantar / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019220:High-Energy Shock Waves / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT); focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy (fESWT); painful heel; plantar fasciopathy; radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT)