What is the evidence for efficacy, effectiveness and safety of surgical interventions for plantar fasciopathy? A systematic review

AIMS: To systematically review randomised control trials (RCT’s) assessing the effectiveness and safety of surgical interventions in adults with plantar fasciopathy (PF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, trial registries and references lists. RCT’s comparing surgical interventions with non-surgical or surgical comparisons in adults with PF were included. Primary outcomes were changes in first step pain severity/intensity, and incidence/nature of adverse events. Secondary outcomes included foot and ankle related disability/function, health related quality of life, cost effectiveness, changes in other reported measures of pain and medication use. Data were extracted at short-term (≤3 months post-intervention), medium-term (>3months—≤6 months post-intervention) or long-term (>6 months—≤2 years post-treatment). Certainty of evidence was evaluated using the modified Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). RESULTS: From 3620 screened records, we included 8 studies comprising 345 patients. Substantial variation across trials precluded meta-analysis, hence a narrative synthesis was conducted. We judged all studies to have high risk of bias. For all outcome comparisons our GRADE judgement for the certainty of the evidence was very low. Three studies compared one type of surgery with another largely showing little to no difference in outcomes for pain, function or quality of life. Five studies compared surgery with non-surgical interventions—three providing very low certainty evidence that surgery may improve pain and function at long-term follow-up compared to non-surgical comparisons, whereas two studies provided no long-term between-group differences. Reporting of adverse events were inadequate, inconsistent or absent across all studies. CONCLUSION: There is a paucity of high certainty evidence to support or refute the effectiveness and safety of surgical interventions in the management of PF. We make recommendations for improving the evidence base in this field.