Autologous whole blood injection in chronic plantar fasciitis: a prospective clinical study

Authors

  • Tabish Tahir Kirmani Department of Orthopaedics, Government Hospital for Bone and Joint Surgery, Barzulla, Govt Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
  • Irfan Andleeb Gul Department of Orthopaedics, Government Hospital for Bone and Joint Surgery, Barzulla, Govt Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
  • Qazi Waris Manzoor Department of Orthopaedics, Government Hospital for Bone and Joint Surgery, Barzulla, Govt Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
  • Khurshid Ahmad Kangoo Department of Orthopaedics, Government Hospital for Bone and Joint Surgery, Barzulla, Govt Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/issn.2455-4510.IntJResOrthop20182737

Keywords:

Plantar fasciitis, Heel pain, Autologous whole blood, Visual analog scale

Abstract

Background: Plantar fasciitis represents painful inflammatory process of plantar fascia with pain beneath the heel. The disease is frustrating for both the patient and the physician as the etiology is unknown. Conservative management is the mainstay of treatment. Patients with resistant pain can be treated with local injections. In this study we evaluated the effectiveness of autologous whole blood injection for treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis.

Methods: The study was conducted on 55 patients (males=25, females=30) with chronic heel pain for more than 6 months and failed conservative treatment. After proper clinical evaluation and diagnosis, autologous whole blood was injected on medial aspect of heel at the most tender point. Visual analog score was noted before injection and at 3 and 6 months of follow-up.

Results: Mean preprocedure visual analog score was 8.2 (range=4-10), which reduced to a mean of 4.5 (range=0-9) at 3 month follow-up and 3.3 (range 0-9) at 6 month follow-up. The reduction in VAS score was statistically significant (p<0.001). No complications occurred in our series.

Conclusions: Autologous whole blood injections appear to be cost-effective for treatment of resistant plantar fasciitis with no serious side effects. 

Author Biography

Tabish Tahir Kirmani, Department of Orthopaedics, Government Hospital for Bone and Joint Surgery, Barzulla, Govt Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

Resident, Department of Orthopedics, Government Medical College, Srinagar, J&K, India

References

Scher DL, Belmont PJ Jr, Bear R, Mountcastle SB, Orr JD, Owens BD, et al. The incidence of plantar fasciitis in the United States military. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2009;91:2867-72.

Goff JD, Crawford R. Diagnosis and treatment of plantar fasciitis. Am Fam Physician. 2011;84(6):676-82.

Astrom M, Rausing A. Chronic Achilles tendonopathy: a survey of surgical and histopathological findings. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1995;316:151-64.

Werner RA, Gell N, Hartigan A, Wiggerman N, Keyserling WM. Risk factors for plantar fasciitis among assembly plant workers. PM R. 2010;2(2):110-6.

Riddle DL, Pulisic M, Pidcoe P, Johnson RE. Risk factors for plantar fasciitis: A matched case-control study. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2003;85:872-7.

Irving DB, Cook JL, Young MA, Menz HB. Obesity and pronated foot type may increase the risk of chronic plantar heel pain: A matched case-control study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2007;8:41.

Woolnough J. Tennis heel. Med J Aus. 1954;2:857-61.

Schon LC. Plantar fascia and Baxter’s nerve release. In: Myerson M, ed. Current therapy in foot and ankle surgery. St Louis; 1993: 177-182.

Bolgla LA, Malone TR. Plantar fasciitis and the windlass mechanism: a biomechanical link to clinical practice. J Athl Train. 2004;39(1):77–82.

Craig CY, Darin SR, Mark WN. Treatment of plantar fasciitis. Am Fam Physician. 2001;63(1):467–74.

Crawford F, Thomson C. Interventions for treating plantar heel pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;3(3):CD000416.

Landorf K, Menz H. Plantar heel pain and fasciitis. Clin Evid. 2008;2:1111.

Sellman JR. Plantar fascia rupture associated with corticosteroid injection. Foot Ankle Int. 1994;15:376-81.

Acevedo JI, Beskin JL. Complications of plantar fascia rupture associated with corticosteroid injection. Foot Ankle Int. 1998;19:91-7.

Vahdatpour B, Kianimehr L, Ahrar MH. Autologous platelet-rich plasma compared with whole blood for the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis; a comparative clinical trial. Adv Biomed Res. 2016;5:84.

Mahindra P, Yamin M, Selhi HS, Singla S, Soni A. Chronic plantar fasciitis: effect of platelet-rich plasma, corticosteroid, and placebo. Orthopedics. 2016;39(2):285–9.

Ragab EM, Othman AM. Platelets rich plasma for treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2012;132(8):1065–70.

Sherpy NA, Hammada MA, Hagrassb HA, Samirb H, Abu-ElMaatyc SE, Mortadaa MA, et al. Local injection of autologous platelet rich plasma compared to corticosteroid treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis patients: A clinical and ultrasonographic follow-up study. Egyptian Rheumatologist. 2016;38(3):247-52.

O'Malley MJ, Vosseller JT, Gu Y. Successful use of platelet rich plasma for chronic plantar fasciitis. HSS J. 2013;9(2):129–33.

Martinelli N, Marinozzi A, Carnì S, Trovato U, Bianchi A, Denaro V. Platelet-rich plasma injections for chronic plantar fasciitis. Int Orthop. 2013;37(5):839–42.

Foster TE, Puskas BL, Mandebaum BR, Gerhardt MB, Rodeo SA. Platelet-rich plasma: from basic science to clinical application. Am J Sports Med. 2009: 1112–1115.

Rompe JD, Furia J, Weil L, Maffulli N. Shock wave therapy for chronic plantar fasciopathy. Br Med Bull. 2007;81-82:183-208.

Wheeler P. Autologous blood injections for chronic plantar fasciitis – a pilot case-series study shows promising results. Int Musculoskeletal Med. 2013;35(1):3-7.

Wheeler P. The role of autologous blood injections in the treatment for patients with chronic plantar fasciitis – A case series and longer-term follow-up. Int Musculoskeletal Med. 2013;37(2):47-53.

Raeissadat SA, Fam SE, Sedighipour L, Babaei-Ghazani A. Autologous whole blood versus corticosteroid local injection in treatment of plantar fasciitis: A randomized, controlled multicenter clinical trial. Clin Rheumatol. 2016;36(3):661–9.

Lee TG, Ahmad TS. Intralesional autologous blood injection compared to corticosteroid injection for treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis. A prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Foot Ankle Int. 2007;28(9):984–90.

Downloads

Published

2018-06-23

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles