Comparison of autologous blood Injection versus methylprednisolone Injection in Treatment of fasciitis plantar: a single-blind clinical trial

Various methods have been proposed to treat plantar fasciitis. Among these, autologous blood transfusion has been discussed and investigated in the past few years, the findings indicate its effects in the medium term, and in some studies, better results were observed compared to corticosteroids. This study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effect of two therapeutic methods of local injection of autologous blood and corticosteroid with the control group in the treatment of plantar fasciitis.

In this prospective study that took place in Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Babol, during 2020–2021, 90 plantar fasciitis patients were examined in two treatment groups by corticosteroid injection or autologous blood. Their levels of pain and satisfaction were recorded during three and six months by the visual analog scale (VAS) and the Roles and Maudsley Scale (RMS). The data were described and analyzed by SPSS-22 using descriptive indices and statistical analysis tests at a significance level of 0.05.

There was no significant difference in pain and satisfaction during the third month of steroid and autologous blood transfusions. However, in the sixth month, the patients in the autologous blood group had significantly less pain than those in the steroid group (P= 0.001), and their level of satisfaction was significantly higher than that of patients in the steroid injection group (P= 0.018). The mean pain intensity based on VAS in six months was 5.40 ± 1.37 and 3.76 ± 1.87 in the steroid and autologous blood groups, respectively (P< 0.001). Based on the Wilcoxon test, the VAS score increased significantly in the steroid group in the sixth month compared to the third month (P= 0.011), while it decreased in the autologous blood group (P< 0.001).

Based on the findings, autologous blood injection in plantar fasciitis over six months had significant pain-reducing effects and satisfaction versus corticosteroid injection. However, after three months, these effects were not significant compared to corticosteroids.