European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: Plantar heel pain (PHP), which affects 4%–7.0% of the community, is associated with impaired health-related quality of life including social isolation, a poor perception of health status and reduced functional capabilities. Aims: To develop a best practice guide for managing people with plantar heel pain (PHP). Materials and methods: The Present Study was a Observational study. This study was conducted from March 2021 to 2023 at department orthopaedic OPD of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital with plantar heel pain. Total 100 Patients were included in this Study. Result: There was good expert agreement with systematic review findings recommending stepped care management with focused shockwave for first step pain in the short-term (OR: 1.89, 95% CI 1.18 to 3.04), medium-term (SMD 1.31, 95% CI 0.61 to 2.01) and long-term (SMD 1.67, 95% CI 0.88 to 2.45) and radial shockwave for first step pain in the short term (OR: 1.66, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.76) and long term (OR: 1.78, 95% CI 1.07 to 2.96). We found good agreement to ‘step care’ using custom foot orthoses for general pain in the short term (SMD: 0.41, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.74) and medium term (SMD: 0.55, 95% CI 0.09 to 1.02). Conclusion: Best practice from a mixed-methods study synthesising systematic review with expert opinion and patient feedback suggests core treatment for people with PHP should include taping, stretching and individualised education. Patients who do not optimally improve may be offered shockwave therapy, followed by custom orthoses.