Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41670830›Full record

SynthesisLasers in medical science2026

Comparison of laser therapy and extracorporeal shock wave therapy in the treatment of patients with plantar fasciitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.

Muteb N Alotaibi, Abdullah M Alharran, Ohood Yahya Alasmari, Mohammad Ama Mohammad, Fahad Ama Mohammad, Ahmad A Alahmad, Bader Alshuaib, Leen Albraik, Yousef Marwan

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-AnalysisComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Lasers in medical science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Trial
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

9 authors.

Muteb N AlotaibiAlfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah M AlharranArabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain. Dr_alharran@outlook.com.
Ohood Yahya Alasmariprincess Noura bint Abdurrahman university, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammad Ama MohammadRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Fahad Ama MohammadRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Ahmad A AlahmadRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Bader AlshuaibRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Leen AlbraikAlfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Yousef MarwanKuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of LILT, HILT and ESWT for chronic PF. A thorough literature search across several databases yielded 108 studies. After screening for relevance, 10 prospective studies involving 803 patients were included in the analysis. Data was pooled using a random-effects model, with the mean difference (MD) and 95%CI as the main statistical measures. Our meta-analysis found no significant difference between ESWT and HILT in the change of VAS score and FFI score from pretreatment to post-treatment scores (MD: -0.50, 95% CI: -1.42 to 0.42, P = 0.28), and (MD: -8.08, 95% CI: -22.09 to 5.94, P = 0.26), respectively. Also, no difference between HILT and LILT in the change of VAS score from pretreatment to post-treatment scores (MD: 1.95, 95% CI: -0.84 to 4.74, P = 0.17). Additionally, our analysis revealed no significant difference between ESWT and LILT in the change of AFOS score from pretreatment to post-treatment scores (MD: -1.64, 95% CI: -10.51 to 7.23, P = 0.72). The analysis concluded that ESWT, LILT, and HILT all demonstrate similar efficacy in treating chronic plantar fasciitis, with no significant advantages observed for any specific therapy.

Indexed as

Extracorporeal Shockwave TherapyFasciitis, PlantarLaser TherapyLow-Level Light TherapyHumansProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeExtracorporeal shock wave therapyFoot functional indexLaser therapyPlantar fasciitisVisual analogue scale

Identifiers

PMID41670830
PMCPMC12894149

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.