Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy versus Low-Level Laser Therapy in the Management of Chronic Plantar Fasciitis

ELsehrawy, Gehad; Nasef, Samah; Ibrahim, Mostafa; Omar, Aziza

doi:10.21608/scumj.2018.42935

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy versus Low-Level Laser Therapy in the Management of Chronic Plantar Fasciitis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Physical Medicine, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

² Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

10.21608/scumj.2018.42935

Abstract

Objectives: to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and low-level laser therapy (LLLT) using diagnostic ultrasound (US) in the management of chronic plantar fasciitis (PF). Patients and Methods: The study was done as a prospective, randomized, comparative clinical study. Patients with PF were randomly allocated into 2 groups: ESWT (n= 23), LLLT (n= 23), group 1 underwent 2 sessions of ESWT (2050 shocks, 2.5 bars) and group 2 underwent 6 sessions of LLLT (27 J/cm2; 830 nm). All patients were assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS), foot function index (FFI) and diagnostic US to measure plantar fascia thickness and to assess echogenicity before and 1 month after treatment. Results: There were significant improvement after one month of treatment in the mean VAS, FFI, thickness of the plantar fascia and echogenicity in both groups. LLLT proved significantly superior to ESWT in pain relief (p = 0.029), but no significant difference between both groups in FFI improvement (p= 0 .264). No statistically significant difference between both groups regarding improvement in US findings including plantar fascia thickness (p= 0.885) and echogenicity (p= 0.34). Conclusion: LLLT proved to be more effective than ESWT in pain relief in patients with PF after one month of treatment.

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