https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2924-1329
![Sample our Behavioral Sciences journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110801/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Behavioral-Sciences.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Objectives
Corticosteroid injections have been typically used for the management of plantar fasciitis with apparently good clinical outcomes; however, there is no information of the effect of corticosteroids on the thickness of the plantar fascia which is typically altered in this pathology. We aimed determine whether treatment with corticosteroid injections induces plantar fascia thickness changes in plantar fasciitis
Methods
MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCT) reporting the use of corticosteroid injection to treat plantar fasciitis to July 2022. Studies must have reported plantar fascia thickness measurement. The risk of bias in all studies was assessed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool. Meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model and the generic inverse variance method.
Results
Data from 17 RCT (including 1109 subjects) were collected. The follow-up period ranged from one to six months. Most studies measured the thickness of the plantar fascia at the insertion into the calcaneus using ultrasound. Pooled analysis revealed that corticosteroid injections had no significant effect on plantar fascia thickness (weighted mean differences [WMD], 0.06 mm [95% CI: −0.17, 0.29]; p = 0.61) or pain relief (WMD, 0.12 cm [95% CI: −0.36, 0.61]; p = 0.62) above active controls.
Conclusion
Corticosteroid injections do not perform better than other common interventions in terms of a decrease of plantar fascia thickness and pain relief for plantar fasciitis.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00913847.2023.2223673