Trial reportBritish journal of sports medicine2023
Does a corticosteroid injection plus exercise or exercise alone add to the effect of patient advice and a heel cup for patients with plantar fasciopathy? A randomised clinical trial.
Trial report in British journal of sports medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03804008 (The Efficacy of Fundamental Advice and a Heel Cup Versus Fundamental Advice and a Heel Cup Plus eXercise Versus Fundamental Advice and a Heel Cup Plus Exercise and a Corticosteroid Injection in Individuals With Plantar Fasciopathy), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
The Efficacy of Fundamental Advice and a Heel Cup Versus Fundamental Advice and a Heel Cup Plus eXercise Versus Fundamental Advice and a Heel Cup Plus Exercise and a Corticosteroid Injection in Individuals With Plantar Fasciopathy
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Comparative effectiveness of minimally invasive therapies for plantar fasciitis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2026Pooled it
- Predictors for pain and functioning in patients with plantar fasciopathy one year after inclusion in a treatment trial in specialist care.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Trial
- Is radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT), sham-rESWT or a standardised exercise programme in combination with advice plus customised foot orthoses more effective than advice plus customised foot orthoses alone in the treatment of plantar fasciopathy? A double-blind, randomised, sham-controlled trial.British journal of sports medicine · 2024Trial
- Review
- Clinical and cost-effectiveness of individualised exercises and foot orthoses in the treatment of plantar heel pain: protocol for the TREADON randomised multi-arm multi-stage adaptive trial.NIHR open research · 2025Article
- Revised minimal important difference values for the visual analogue scale and Foot Health Status Questionnaire when used for plantar heel pain.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2024Article
- Supination resistance variations in foot and ankle musculoskeletal disorders: implications for diagnosis and customised interventions with wedged insoles.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare the effectiveness of patient advice plus heel cup alone (PA) versus PA and lower limb exercise (PAX) versus PAX plus corticosteroid injection (PAXI) to improve self-reported pain in patients with plantar fasciopathy.
methodsWe recruited 180 adults with plantar fasciopathy confirmed by ultrasonography for this prospectively registered three-armed, randomised, single-blinded superiority trial. Patients were randomly allocated to PA (n=62), PA plus self-dosed lower limb heavy-slow resistance training consisting of heel raises (PAX) (n=59), or PAX plus an ultrasound-guided injection of 1 mL triamcinolone 20 mg/mL (PAXI) (n=59). The primary outcome was changed in the pain domain of the Foot Health Status Questionnaire (ranging from 0 'worst' to 100 'best') from baseline to the 12-week follow-up. The minimal important difference in the pain domain is 14.1 points. The outcome was collected at baseline and at 4, 12, 26, and 52 weeks.
resultsThe primary analysis found a statistically significant difference between PA and PAXI after 12 weeks favouring PAXI (adjusted mean difference: -9.1 (95% CI -16.8 to -1.3; p=0.023)) and over 52 weeks (adjusted mean difference: -5.2 (95% CI -10.4 to -0.1; p=0.045)). At no follow-up did the mean difference between groups exceed the pre-specified minimal important difference. No statistically significant difference was found between PAX and PAXI or between PA and PAX at any time.
conclusionNo clinically relevant between-group differences were found after 12 weeks. The results indicate that combining a corticosteroid injection with exercise is not superior to exercise or no exercise. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03804008.
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