Background

Chronic plantar fasciitis (PF) is a universal orthopedic problem that can prove difficult to successfully treat. In this study we compared the short term and long term overall efficacy of Platelet rich plasma (PRP) and Corticosteroid (CS) in the treatment of chronic PF.

Material and methods

The present study was conducted at the Department of Orthopedics at SAMC and PGI, Indore from July 2015 to October 2017. In this series, Out of 96 patients 84 patients were included in the study and 12 were lost during follow–up period.  All patients were divided into two groups (CS and PRP) alternately. Functional outcome was evaluated on the basis of roles–maudsley (RM) score and visual analog scale (VAS) pre–and post–injection at different time intervals.

Results

The mean RM Score and VAS decreased from baseline continuously at 3 months and 6 months and up to 12 months it was statistically significant (p=0.001) in comparison with the baseline at all durations respectively. But, when both the treatment methods were compared, it was observed that maximum effect of PRP on RM Score and VAS was between 3 to 6 months, whereas in CS group, it was at 6 months RM Score and VAS is significantly low correlation (r=0.537* RM Score) and (r=0.495* VAS) p=0.015 had significantly low correlation at 12 month in CS group as compare to PRP group respectively.

Conclusion: The treatment of local injection of corticosteroid (CS) or platelet–rich plasma (PRP) is an effective treatment option for chronic plantar fasciitis (PF) and this study confirms that, PRP injection has faster onset of action and although comparable long term results can be observed, it has slight overall superiority than CS injection in treating chronic PF patients.