TY - JOUR
T1 - Effective treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis with dorsiflexion night splints
T2 - A crossover prospective randomized outcome study
AU - Powell, Mark
AU - Post, William R.
AU - Keener, Jay
AU - Wearden, Stanley
PY - 1998/1
Y1 - 1998/1
N2 - Chronic plantar fasciitis frustrates patients and treating physicians. Our hypothesis was that use of a dorsiflexion night splint for 1 month would effectively treat patients with recalcitrant plantar fasciitis. A 6-month randomized crossover study included 37 patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. Patients were treated with dorsiflexion night splints for 1 month. Group A wore splints for the 1st month and group B for the 2nd month. No splints were used in either group for the final 4 months of the study. No other medications, stretching, or strengthening exercises were prescribed. Eighty-eight percent of patients who completed the study improved. Eighty percent of the involved feat improved subjectively. Results of the AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot Rating System17 and the Mayo Clinical Scoring System7 demonstrated significant improvement for both groups during the period of splint wear. Improvements were maintained at study completion. Response to splinting did not correlate with foot type, degree of obesity, or the presence of heel spur on radiographs. We believe dorsiflexion splints provide relief from the symptoms of recalcitrant plantar fasciitis in the majority of patients.
AB - Chronic plantar fasciitis frustrates patients and treating physicians. Our hypothesis was that use of a dorsiflexion night splint for 1 month would effectively treat patients with recalcitrant plantar fasciitis. A 6-month randomized crossover study included 37 patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. Patients were treated with dorsiflexion night splints for 1 month. Group A wore splints for the 1st month and group B for the 2nd month. No splints were used in either group for the final 4 months of the study. No other medications, stretching, or strengthening exercises were prescribed. Eighty-eight percent of patients who completed the study improved. Eighty percent of the involved feat improved subjectively. Results of the AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot Rating System17 and the Mayo Clinical Scoring System7 demonstrated significant improvement for both groups during the period of splint wear. Improvements were maintained at study completion. Response to splinting did not correlate with foot type, degree of obesity, or the presence of heel spur on radiographs. We believe dorsiflexion splints provide relief from the symptoms of recalcitrant plantar fasciitis in the majority of patients.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0031933788&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/107110079801900103
DO - 10.1177/107110079801900103
M3 - Article
C2 - 9462907
AN - SCOPUS:0031933788
SN - 1071-1007
VL - 19
SP - 10
EP - 18
JO - Foot and Ankle International
JF - Foot and Ankle International
IS - 1
ER -