Skip to main content
. 2019 Aug 17;20:378. doi: 10.1186/s12891-019-2749-z

Table 1.

Descriptive characteristics of trials included in the review

Trial Intervention Comparator Cointerventions Participants per group Female participants (%) Mean age (years) Mean BMI (kg/m2) Duration of symptoms (weeks)a Trial duration (weeks) Trial setting
Intervention Comparator
Abdihakin (2012) [20] Corticosteroid injection Placebo injection

i) Oral anti-inflammatory drugs three times daily;

ii) stretches;

iii) foot orthoses;

iv) heel splints;

v) shoe recommendations

 44 38 52 42.9 31.7 NR 12 Outpatient clinic
Acosta-Olivo (2017) [21] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection Plantar fascia stretches 14 14 80 44.8 NR >  12 weeks 16 Outpatient clinic
Afsar (2015) [22] Corticosteroid injection Autologous blood injection None 62 61 57 31.8 NR >  12 weeks 24 Outpatient clinic
Babaei-Ghazani (2019) [23] Corticosteroid injection Ozone injection Plantar fascia and calf stretches 15 15 90 46.3 29.0 >  8 weeks 12 Outpatient clinic
Ball (2012) [24] Corticosteroid injection Placebo injection Permitted to use analgesia if required 22 19 56 49.4 31.6 >  8 weeks 12 Rheumatology service
Celik (2015) [25] Corticosteroid injection Physical therapy None 21 22 65 45.5 30.0 NR 52 Hospital
Crawford (1999) [26] Corticosteroid injection Local anaesthetic injection NR 27 27 65 57.0 NR NR 26 Hospital
Corticosteroid injection + tibial nerve block Local anaesthetic injection + tibial nerve block 26 26
Diaz-Llopis (2012) [27] Corticosteroid injection Botulinum toxin-A injection Plantar fascia and calf stretches 28 28 66 53.9 NR >  26 weeks 4 Hospital
Elizondo-Rodriguez (2013) [28] Corticosteroid injection Botulinum toxin-A injection Plantar fascia stretches 17 17 55 43.0 NR >  12 weeks 26 Hospital
Eslamian (2016) [29] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy

i) Foot orthoses and heel pads;

ii) plantar fascia and calf stretches

 20 20 82 42.1 NR >  8 weeks 8 Hospital
Guevara Serna (2017) [30] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy NR 24 36 67 51.0 NR >  12 weeks 52 Hospital
Guner (2013) [31] Corticosteroid injection Tenoxicam injection A stretching and strengthening program 30 31 77 41.4 29.5 >  12 weeks 52 NR
Hanselman (2015) [32] Corticosteroid injection Cryopreserved human amniotic membrane Plantar fascia and calf stretches 14 9 70 51.0 NR >  12 weeks 18 NR
Hocaoglu (2017) [33] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy NR 36 36 87 49.0 28.7 >  26 weeks 26 Outpatient clinic
Hou (2018) [34] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy NR 39 38 35 41.5 25.4 >  12 weeks 26 Hospital
Jain (2015) [35] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection

i) Eccentric stretches;

ii) foot orthoses

 22 24 65 55.6 NR >  52 weeks 52 Hospital
Jain (2018) [36] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection Plantar fascia and calf stretches 40 40 42 38.3 24.1 >  12 weeks 26 Hospital
Johannsen (2019) [37] Corticosteroid injection Physical therapy NR 31 30 58 45.0 26.2 >  12 weeks 104 University
Corticosteroid injection + physical therapy 29
Karimzadeh (2017) [38] Corticosteroid injection Control group Plantar fascia stretches 12 12 67 47.5 NR >  8 weeks 12 NR
Autologous blood injection 12
Kiter (2006) [39] Corticosteroid injection Autologous blood injection NR 14 15 69 50.7 NR >  26 weeks 26 University
Kriss (2003) [40] Corticosteroid injection Foot orthoses NR 22 26 60 59.3 NR NR 26 NR
Corticosteroid injection + foot orthoses 31
Lai (2018) [41] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy Acetaminophen as required 50 47 56 53.5 NR >  4 weeks 12 Hospital
Lee (2007) [42] Corticosteroid injection Autologous blood injection Plantar fascia and calf stretches 31 30 93 48.7 26.1 >  6 weeks 26 Outpatient clinic
Li (2014) [43] Corticosteroid injection Miniscalpel needle Participants were permitted to continue with any conservative treatment 30 31 72 55.8 NR >  26 weeks 52 Hospital
Mahindra (2016) [44] Corticosteroid injection Placebo injection Plantar fascia and calf stretches 25 25 58 33.4 NR >  12 weeks 12 NR
Platelet-rich plasma injection 25
Mardani-Kivi (2015) [45] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy None 41 40 84 44.3 29.6 <  6 weeks 12 University
McMillan (2012) [46] Corticosteroid injection Placebo injection Plantar fascia stretches 41 41 48 52.6 31.1 >  8 weeks 12 University
Monto (2014) [47] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection

i) CAM walker for two weeks;

ii) Swedish heel drop program;

iii) plantar fascia and calf stretches

 20 20 57 55.0 29.2 >  16 weeks 104 NR
Mulherin (2009) [48] Corticosteroid injection Tibial nerve block 14 12 60 55 (median) NR NR 26 Community medical centre
Corticosteroid injection + tibial nerve block 19
Omar (2012) [49] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection NR 15 15 100 43.5 NR NR 6 Hospital
Porter (2005) [50] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy Plantar fascia and calf stretches 64 61 66 39.2 NR >  6 weeks 52 Hospital
Rastegar (2018) [51] Corticosteroid injection Dry-needling NR 34 32 58 40.9 NR >  12 weeks 52 University
Ryan (2014) [52] Corticosteroid injection Physical therapy Calf stretches 28 28 57 49.3 25.2 >  52 weeks 12 University
Saber (2012) [53] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy NR 30 30 55 34.2 29.0 >  26 weeks 12 Outpatient clinic
Serbest (2013) [54] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy NR 15 15 53 45.2 30.5 >  6 weeks 12 Sports medicine clinic
Shetty (2019) [55] Corticosteroid injection Placebo injection

i) Oral enterocoxib and paracetamol for 5 days;

ii) plantar fascia stretches;

iii) eccentric calf strengthening

 30 30 54 44.6 NR >  12 weeks 78 Hospital
Platelet-rich plasma injection 30
Sorrentino (2008) [56] Corticosteroid injection in participants with perifascial oedema Extracorporeal shockwave therapy NR 16 15 56 NR 27.9 >  8 weeks 6 University
Corticosteroid injection in participants without perifascial oedema Extracorporeal shockwave therapy 15 16
Tiwari (2013) [57] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection NR 30 30 NR NR NR NR 26 Hospital
Ugurlar (2018) [58] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection Acetaminophen for 3 days 40 39 50 38.8 26.9 >  52 weeks 156 Hospital
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy Prolotherapy 39 40
Uygur (2018) [59] Corticosteroid injection Dry-needling NR 47 49 66 49.6 NR >  12 weeks 26 Hospital
Vahdatpour (2016) [60] Corticosteroid injection Platelet-rich plasma injection Plantar fascia and calf stretches 16 16 72 46.2 29.6 >  12 weeks 26 Hospital
Whittaker (2019) [61] Corticosteroid injection Foot orthoses Plantar fascia and calf stretches 50 53 61 43.9 30.4 >  4 weeks 12 University
Yesiltas (2015) [62] Corticosteroid injection Autologous blood injection NR 21 28 57 45.5 30.4 NR 26 Hospital
Yucel (2010) [63] Corticosteroid injection Extracorporeal shockwave therapy None permitted other than heel cups 33 27 70 43.9 NR >  26 weeks 12 NR
Yucel (2013) [64] Corticosteroid injection Foot orthoses Analgesia if required 20 20 80 46.4 30.1 >  12 weeks 4 University
Yuzer (2006) [65] Corticosteroid injection Laser therapy NR 30 24 85 50.5 32.3 >  4 weeks 26 NR
Zamani (2014) [66] Corticosteroid injection Laser therapy NR 20 20 57 52.5 NR >  6 weeks 6 Rheumatology clinic

Abbreviations: NR Not reported, BMI Body mass index

aThe minimum duration of symptoms that was specified in the inclusion criteria for the trial