Trial reportJournal of foot and ankle research2026
Loop Taping for Heel Fat Pad Syndrome: A Crossover Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Journal of foot and ankle research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05385796 (Study of Taping for Heel Fat Pad Syndrome), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
Study of Taping for Heel Fat Pad Syndrome (STEP): A Randomized Controlled Crossover Single-blind Clinical Trial
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesHeel fat pad syndrome (HFPS) is a common but under-investigated cause of plantar heel pain. No randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated targeted treatments. This study evaluated the immediate and short-term effects of novel loop taping on pain, function, and fat pad thickness in adults with HFPS.
designTwo-period crossover pilot RCT.
interventionsParticipants completed two taping conditions (loop and control) in randomized order, separated by a 4-to-7-day washout, with each participant serving as their own control. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was immediate change in heel pain during the most painful weightbearing activity [0-10 numeric pain rating scale (NPRS)]. Secondary outcomes at 3 days post-taping included changes in Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ) Pain and Function scores [0 (worst)-100 (best)] and in average 24-h heel pain (NPRS). Mechanistic outcomes included heel fat pad thickness and pressure pain threshold (PPT). Linear mixed effects models estimated between-condition differences.
resultsAmong 16 paired observations, loop taping produced a small, non-significant between-condition difference in change in immediate activity-related pain (mean difference 0.8; 95% CI: -0.1 to 1.7; p = 0.10); 63% (loop) versus 25%-31% (control) met minimal clinically important difference (MCID) thresholds. Between-condition differences favored loop taping for FHSQ Pain (20.7 points; 95% CI: 4.5 to 36.8; p = 0.02) and Function (11.3 points; 95% CI: -1.0 to 23.6; p = 0.09), exceeding MCIDs of 12.4 and 6.4 points. Fat pad thickness increased by 1.7 mm (95% CI: 1.2 to 2.3; p < 0.001) and correlated with improvement in FHSQ Pain. PPT did not differ between conditions.
conclusionsLoop taping showed favorable trends for reducing pain and improving function and significantly increased heel fat pad thickness. Although underpowered for definitive conclusions, several outcomes exceeded MCIDs. Findings support the potential of loop taping and inform primary outcome selection and design considerations for future, larger trials of this low-cost, pathomechanics-based intervention. TRAIL REGISTRATION: This RCT was registered at Clinicaltrialabas.gov (NCT05385796).
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