Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34786906›Full record

Trial reportEuropean journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine2022

Myofascial points treatment with focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy (f-ESWT) for plantar fasciitis: an open label randomized clinical trial.

Lucrezia Tognolo, Federico Giordani, Carlo Biz, Andrea Bernini, Pietro Ruggieri, Carla Stecco, Anna C Frigo, Stefano Masiero

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

Trial report in European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.8field-weighted citation impact, top 4% 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

21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.

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  7. A Narrative Review of Shockwave Therapy in Plantar Fasciitis.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026
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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

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Lucrezia TognoloUnit of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy - lucrezia.tognolo@unipd.it.
Federico GiordaniSchool of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Carlo BizUnit of Orthopedics and Orthopedic Oncology, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology (DiSCOG), University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Andrea BerniniSchool of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Pietro RuggieriUnit of Orthopedics and Orthopedic Oncology, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology (DiSCOG), University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Carla SteccoDepartment of Neurosciences, Institute of Human Anatomy, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Anna C FrigoDepartment of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Stefano MasieroUnit of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
University of Padua · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPlantar fasciitis (PF) is a common cause of heel pain. Among the several conservative treatment options, extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is considered the standard treatment. However, recent studies suggest that PF may be sustained by a myofascial impairment proximal to the pain area with a biomechanical disequilibrium of the entire limb and pelvis.

aimBy combining the concepts of fascial manipulation and ESWT, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the ESWT on myofascial points in a sample of subjects with PF.

designOpen label randomized controlled clinical trial.

settingOutpatient clinic. POPULATION: Patients with PF were randomly assigned to an experimental treatment group (EG), treated with focused ESWT on myofascial points, and a control group (CG), treated with the focused ESWT traditional approach on the medial calcaneal tubercle.

methodsEvery patient underwent a 3-session program and follow-up after 1 and 4 months. Outcome measures included the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) and the Italian Foot Functional Index (17-iFFI).

resultsThirty patients were enrolled in the study. Four patients of the CG dropped out the study, therefore twenty-six patients were included in the final analysis. Improvement in 17-iFFI and FAOS scores was observed in both groups starting from the third treatment and confirmed at the 1-month and 4-month follow-ups, with earlier improvement in the score values observed in the EG.

conclusionsTreatment of the myofascial points with ESWT in subjects suffering from plantar fasciitis could be an effective treatment option. It fosters the hypothesis that a global biomechanical re-equilibrium of the body would be necessary to completely solve the pathology. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: ESWT on myofascial points could provide an interesting alternative with better outcomes in terms of time needed for recovery compared to traditional ESWT for the conservative management of PF.

Indexed as

Extracorporeal Shockwave TherapyFasciitis, PlantarHumansPainPain MeasurementTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID34786906
PMCPMC9980534
OpenAlexW3213268024

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.