A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON EFFICACY OF PLATELET RICH PLASMA VS CORTICOSTROID INJECTION IN TREATMENT OF CHRONIC PLANTER FASCIITIS

Abstract

Background- Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain. It is a disabling disease in its chronic form[1]. Various treatment options are available including Nonsteroidal anti-inammatory drugs, physiotherapy, orthosis, corticosteroid injection and lately autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used. Purpose: To compare the efcacy of platelet rich plasma and corticosteroid injections in reducing pain and improving functional outcome in patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. Materials and Methods: To compare the efcacy a non-randomized comparative prospective clinical trial conducted in the Department of Orthopaedics, Adichunchanagiri institute of Medical Sciences, B.G NAGARA after obtaining ethical clearance. This study consisted of 80 patients diagnosed with the chronic planter fasciitis. Patients fullling inclusion criteria was included in the study for a period of 18 months (November 2020 to May 2022). Visual analogue scale for pain scores were used as outcome variables. Results: In the present study, pain was assessed using a 10- point VAS. Pre-injection, mean VAS score was 8.23 ± 1.12 and 8.53 ± 1.09 in the corticosteroid and PRP group respectively, with no signicant difference between them (p value = 0.22). At 3 weeks, mean VAS score was 8.38 ± 1.39 and 6.88 ± 1.19 in the corticosteroid and PRP group respectively. Though the mean VAS score was lower in the PRP group, there was no signicant difference between them (p value = 0.31). At 6 weeks, we observed that mean VAS score was lower in the PRP group (5.2 ± 0.94) as compared to corticosteroid group (5.5 ± 0.88), though the difference was not statistically different. At 3 months, we observed that mean VAS score was signicantly lower in the PRP group (3.58 ± 0.81) as compared to corticosteroid group (4.03 ± 0.83), p value < 0.05. The trend continued at the next follow up as well. At 6 months, we observed that mean VAS score was signicantly lower in the PRP group (1.78 ± 0.66) as compared to corticosteroid group (2.15 ± 0.58), p value < 0.01. Conclusion: PRP was more effective and durable than steroid injection for the treatment of chronic recalcitrant cases of planter fasciitis