Ultrasonographic evaluation in plantar fasciitis
Two articles on PainSci cite Karabay 2007: 1. Complete Guide to Plantar Fasciitis
PainSci commentary on Karabay 2007: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
These researchers used ultrasonography to show that people with plantar fasciitis symptoms have thickened connective tissue on the bottom of their feet. The results were clear and unambiguous — an unusual dose of clarity in a murky subject. Just 23 patients, though, so not a lot of data to work with here.
Other reported results, for whatever it’s worth: no difference in heel pads.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
The heels of 23 patients who were diagnosed with unilateral/bilateral plantar fasciitis were evaluated via ultrasonography and compared with their asymptomatic feet and a control group of 23 people. Plantar fascial thickness, echogenity, and heel pad thickness were evaluated, and the results were statistically analyzed. For symptomatic feet, increased thickness of the fascia and reduced echogenity were constant ultrasonographic findings (mean, 4.79 mm for symptomatic feet; 2.17 mm for control group, P < .05). No significant difference was found between heel pads of the diseased and healthy feet (mean, 12.96 mm for symptomatic feet; 13.10 mm for control group; P > .05). Ultrasonography seems to be a valuable, noninvasive diagnostic tool for the evaluation of plantar fasciitis.
related content
- “Application of ultrasound in the assessment of plantar fascia in patients with plantar fasciitis: a systematic review,” Mohammad Ali Mohseni-Bandpei, Masoomeh Nakhaee, Mohammad Ebrahim Mousavi, Ali Shakourirad, Mohammad Reza Safari, and Reza Vahab Kashani, Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 2014.
- “Reproducibility of sonographic measurement of thickness and echogenicity of the plantar fascia,” Ju-Wen Cheng, Wen-Chung Tsai, Tung-Yang Yu, and Kuo-Yao Huang, Journal of Clinical Ultrasound, 2012.
- “The correlation between plantar fascia thickness and symptoms of plantar fasciitis,” Sarah Mahowald, Bradford S Legge, and John F Grady, Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, 2011.
- “The relationship between the flexible flatfoot and plantar fasciitis: ultrasonographic evaluation,” YC Huang, LY Wang, HC Wang, KL Chang, and CP Leong, Chang Gung J Med, 2004.
Specifically regarding Karabay 2007:
- Plantar Fasciitis Patients Have Thick Soles — There’s a connection between plantar fasciitis and a surprisingly thick tissue in the arch of the foot
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- No long-term effects after a three-week open-label placebo treatment for chronic low back pain: a three-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. Kleine-Borgmann 2022 Pain.
- Exercise and education versus saline injections for knee osteoarthritis: a randomised controlled equivalence trial. Bandak 2022 Ann Rheum Dis.
- Association of Lumbar MRI Findings with Current and Future Back Pain in a Population-based Cohort Study. Kasch 2022 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component. Yousef 2013 Anaesthesia.
- Is Neck Posture Subgroup in Late Adolescence a Risk Factor for Persistent Neck Pain in Young Adults? A Prospective Study. Richards 2021 Phys Ther.