Plantar fasciitis. Etiology, treatment, surgical results, and review of the literature.

Plantar fasciitis is a common orthopedic syndrome among athletes and nonathletes. The etiology of the pain is multifactorial but usually involves inflammation and degeneration of the plantar fascia origin. The majority of patients will respond to conservative measures. Surgical treatment is reserved for those patients who do not respond. A complete plantar fascia release is performed through a medial longitudinal incision. Prominent heel spurs and degenerated areas in the plantar fascia are resected. Of 27 surgically treated cases followed from one to three years, satisfactory results were obtained in 24 cases. Histologically, localized fibrosis or granulomatous changes or both were noted in several cases.