Plantar heel pain and fasciitis.

INTRODUCTION: Plantar heel pain causes soreness or tenderness of the sole of the foot under the heel, which sometimes extends into the medial arch. The prevalence and prognosis are unclear, but the symptoms seem to resolve over time in most people.

METHODS AND OUTCOMES: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of treatments for plantar heel pain? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to January 2007 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

RESULTS: We found 15 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

CONCLUSIONS: In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: casted orthoses (custom-made insoles), corticosteroid injection (alone, or plus non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), extracorporeal shock wave therapy, heel cups, heel pads (alone or with corticosteroid injection), lasers, local anaesthetic injection (alone or with corticosteroid injection), night splints plus non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, stretching exercises, surgery, taping, and ultrasound.