Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17178774›Full record

Trial reportBritish journal of sports medicine2007

The additional value of a night splint to eccentric exercises in chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy: a randomised controlled trial.

R J de Vos, A Weir, R J A Visser, ThC de Winter, J L Tol

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in British journal of sports medicine, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.

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  17. Current concept review of Achilles tendinopathy.Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

R J de VosErasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
A Weir
R J A Visser
ThC de Winter
J L Tol
Erasmus University Rotterdam · NLSt. Antonius Ziekenhuis · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTo assess whether the use of a night splint is of added benefit on functional outcome in treating chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy.

methodsThis was a single-blind, prospective, single centre, randomised controlled trial set in the Sports Medical Department, The Hague Medical Centre, The Netherlands. Inclusion criteria were: age 18-70 years, active participation in sports, and tendon pain localised at 2-7 cm from distal insertion. Exclusion criteria were: insertional disorders, partial or complete ruptures, or systemic illness. 70 tendons were included and randomised into one of two treatment groups: eccentric exercises with a night splint (night splint group, n = 36) or eccentric exercises only (eccentric group, n = 34).

interventionsBoth groups completed a 12-week heavy-load eccentric training programme. One group received a night splint in addition to eccentric exercises. At baseline and follow-up at 12 weeks, patient satisfaction, Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles questionnaire (VISA-A) score and reported compliance were recorded by a single-blind trained researcher who was blinded to the treatment.

resultsAfter 12 weeks, patient satisfaction in the eccentric group was 63% compared with 48% in the night splint group. The VISA-A score significantly improved in both groups; in the eccentric group from 50.1 to 68.8 (p = 0.001) and in the night splint group from 49.4 to 67.0 (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in VISA-A score (p = 0.815) and patient satisfaction (p = 0.261).

conclusionA night splint is not beneficial in addition to eccentric exercises in the treatment of chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy.

Indexed as

SplintsAchilles TendonAdolescentAdultAgedAthletic InjuriesChronic DiseaseExercise TherapyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNetherlandsPatient CompliancePatient SatisfactionProspective Studies

Identifiers

PMID17178774
PMCPMC2465339
OpenAlexW1994811861

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.