Isolated Gastrocnemius Contraction and Gastroc Recession Surgery in Case of Planter Fasciitis: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE

The current systematic and meta-static review aimed to analyze the correlation between isolated gastrocnemius contracture and plantar fasciitis and the effectiveness of gastroc recession surgery in the treatment of plantar fasciitis.

METHODOLOGY

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to conduct this meta-analysis. A literature search was carried out on the following databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane databases with the appropriate medical subject headings (MeSH) to identify the eligible articles.

RESULTS

A total of 13 studies were included in this meta-analysis. In this study, there is a significant difference in chronic plantar fasciitis outcome when comparing experimental and control (RR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.05; 0.001;  = 29%). There is a significant difference in pain scale outcome when comparing pre-treatment and post-treatment (RR: 3.25; 95% CI 1.44 to 7.32; 0.004 < 0.01;  = 0%). A significant difference in VAS scale outcome when comparing pre-treatment and post-treatment (RR: 2.58; 95% CI 1.52 to 4.38; 0.0004 < 0.01;  = 0%).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the current systematic review and meta-analysis of gastrocnemius recession and proximal medial gastrocnemius release and other treatment measures for plantar fasciitis suggests that the improvement of ankle dorsiflexion, reduction in pain, and patient satisfaction are almost similar in all the treatment measures. Among the five treatment measures, gastrocnemius recession remains the best, followed by proximal medial gastrocnemius release.