COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF STRETCHING EXERCISES, PROLOTHERAPY, ESWT AND CORTICOSTEROID INJECTION ON VAS SCORES INACTIVE ADULTS WITH CHRONIC PLANTAR FASCIITIS: A RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

Yargiç Melda¹, Ali Eroğlu^{2, *}

¹Necmettin Erbakan University, School of Medicine, Department of Sports Medicine - ²Erenköy Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Hospital, Department of Sports Medicine

Introduction: Treatment options for plantar fasciitis are numerous, but the effectiveness of these treatment modalities in comparison to each other, and their effects in the short and medium-term are to be investigated.

Method: This study compared the average pain scores (visual analogue scale -VAS) of 182 patients who were treated with either one of exercise therapy, extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT), prolotherapy or corticosteroid injections at baseline, week 3 and month 6, retrospectively.

Results: Each treatment modality improved pain scores significantly, compared to baseline at week 3. In the third week, the lowest VAS scores were observed in patients who received a steroid injection (1.46±0.74). However, at month 6 the lowest VAS scores belonged to the patients who had received ESWT (2.93±0.74). All other treatment groups also had significantly lower VAS scores at month 6 than at baseline.

Conclusion: Exercise therapy, ESWT, prolotherapy and steroid injections are all effective in reducing pain in patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. However, the best outcome was observed with steroid in the short term, and with ESWT in the medium term.