Ultrasound-guided injection of hyaluronic acid and corticosteroid for treating plantar fasciitis: Evaluation of pain, fascia thickness and ankle-foot function / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Sodium hyaluronate injection has been used in many musculoskeletal diseases, including knee osteoarthritis, frozen shoulder, rheumatoid arthritis, and other tendon and soft tissue pain. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of sodium hyaluronate injection and corticosteroid injection in reducing the symptoms of plantar fasciitis. METHODS: Sixty-five patients with plantar fasciitis were randomly divided into two groups sodium hyaluronate group (32 cases) and corticosteroid group (33 cases). Two groups of patients were injected with 2.5 mL of sodium hyaluronate (25 mg/2.5 mL) and compound betamethasone (5 mg of diprosone and 2 mg of betamethasone sodium phosphate) under the guidance of ultrasound, respectively. The treatment interval was 7 days, twice in total. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, plantar fascia thickness and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score were measured before treatment, 1 month and 3 months after treatment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At 1 month after treatment, compared with the baseline data, the VAS and plantar fascia thickness of the two groups decreased, and the AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score increased (P 0.05). To conclude, corticosteroids and sodium hyaluronate are both effective to treat plantar fasciitis, but the effect of corticosteroids is better within 1 month. To avoid the potential risk of corticosteroids, sodium hyaluronate can be a substitute of corticosteroids.