The long- and short-term effect of radial extracorporeal shockwave therapy on pain level in patients with plantar fasciosis – preliminary research

Introduction
Plantar Fasciosis (PF), also known as plantar fasciitis, is a common world- wide condition connected to heel-related locomotion problems. Radial Shockwave Therapy (RSWT) is one of the methods used in the treatment of patients with PF, yet more clinical studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of shock wave therapy. The goal of this study was to observe short- and long-term effects of RSWT on pain reduction in a group of patients with chronic PF.

Material and methods
28 patients with PF were included in the study (mean age 53.68 +/- 9.69 yrs, mean BMI 30.56 +/- 5.37). Radial shock wave therapy was administered in five sessions. Total number of shocks per session was 2000 at 2.5 Ba pressure and frequency set at 10 Hz. Shock were performed with a 15 mm transducer head. Pain-related parameters were evaluated with the use of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), and Laitinen Pain Questionnaire (LPQ) at the baseline, at each r-ESWT session, and at the 6- month follow-up.

Results
There were statistically, and clinically significant changes observed in VAS, NRS and LPQ parameters (p < 0.001) with the effect size of 0.38, 0.61, 0.59 respectively. The improvement was observed between the first and fifth measurement and between the first and sixth measurement, however, there were discrepancies in the results obtained at consecutive timepoints.

Conclusions
RSWT can be effective tool that will provide considerable reduction in pain severity in group of patients with PF despite no reduction in body weight over the follow-up period.