Ultrasonography features of the intrinsic foot muscles in patients with and without plantar fasciitis: A novel case-control research study

  1. Lorena Canosa-Carro 1
  2. Daniel López-López 2
  3. Paula García-Bermejo 1
  4. Emmanuel Navarro-Flores 3
  5. Carmen de Labra 2
  6. Carlos Romero-Morales 1
  1. 1 Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain
  2. 2 Universidade da Coruña, Spain
  3. 3 Universidad de Valencia, Spain
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Journal:
Archives of Medical Science

ISSN: 1734-1922,  1896-9151

Year of publication: 2021

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5114/AOMS/143122 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Archives of Medical Science

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Abstract

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to compare by ultrasoundimaging (USI) the thickness and cross-sectional area (CSA) of the flexor hallucis brevis (FHB), flexor digitorum brevis (FDB), abductor hallucis brevis(AHB) and quadratus plantae (QP) muscles between individuals with andwithout plantar fasciitis (PF).Material and methods: A case-control study was performed with 64 participants divided into two groups: A, PF group (n = 32) and B, healthy group(n = 32).Results: USI measurements for FHB CSA (p = 0.035) decreased, showing statistically significant differences for the PF group, while the QP CSA (p = 0.40)increased, showing statistically significant differences for the PF group withrespect to the healthy group. The rest of the intrinsic foot muscles (IFM) didnot show statistically significant differences; however in FHB, FDB, QP andAHB thicknesses and FDB CSA showed a slightly decrease for the PF group.Conclusions: USI measurements showed that the CSA of the FHB muscle isreduced in patients with PF while the CSA of the QP muscle is increased inpatients with PF.

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