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Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in runners with a symptomatic heel spur

  • Sports Medicine
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the benefit to treat plantar fasciitis with low-dose energy extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and the efficacy of such treatment to abate the painful symptoms allowing a rapid return to the running activity. Our study included 54 running athletes treated for plantar fasciitis associated with a heel spur who received four sessions (once weekly) of low-dose ESWT, and followed prospectively on average 45 days, 6 and 24 months after their last session. The clinical results were excellent in 59% of cases, good in 12%, satisfactory in 21% and distinctly unsatisfactory in 8%. No patient was observed a significant modification of the heel spur at the follow-up X-ray. The ultrasound examination at 24 months showed a disappearance of the inflammation signs in 61% of cases. A strong correlation between ultrasound improvement and clinical results were found. Low-energy ESWT seems to be a good mean to treat plantar fasciitis in runners with a 71% of good or excellent results and a persistent improvement lasting 24 months. A randomized multicentric study seems to be necessary to define the type of energy that should be used in the future to treat plantar fasciitis, in particular in the athletic patients, to allow a faster return to sports activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Methodology and Surgical Technique, Orthopedics Section II, University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Biagio Moretti, Vittorio Patella, Gian Lorenzo Sisti & Margherita Corrado

  2. Department of Orthopaedic and Traumatology, University Hospital, OTR-BH 14, CHUV, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Raffaele Garofalo & Elyazid Mouhsine

Authors
  1. Biagio Moretti
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  2. Raffaele Garofalo
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  3. Vittorio Patella
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  4. Gian Lorenzo Sisti
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  5. Margherita Corrado
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  6. Elyazid Mouhsine
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Correspondence to Elyazid Mouhsine.

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Moretti, B., Garofalo, R., Patella, V. et al. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in runners with a symptomatic heel spur. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 14, 1029–1032 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-005-0025-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-005-0025-2

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