Study suggests new heel pain treatment is ineffective

<br>CHICAGO (AP) _ A new high-pressure sound-wave technique for easing chronic heel pain works no better than a dummy treatment, researchers say. <br><br>The condition, known medically as plantar fasciitis,

Tuesday, September 17th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) _ A new high-pressure sound-wave technique for easing chronic heel pain works no better than a dummy treatment, researchers say.

The condition, known medically as plantar fasciitis, affects more than 2 million Americans and is common in runners. It can include heel spurs, or bony growths that form after repeated injuries or inflammation.

Standard treatments include anti-inflammatory drugs, over-the-counter heel cushions and sometimes surgery.

The new treatment employs noninvasive technology more commonly used to break up kidney stones and can cost $2,000 or more. The sound waves are believed to work by breaking up the heel spurs or easing tissue-thickening.

Australian researchers studied 160 patients given three weekly treatments or three doses of dummy therapy. Both groups improved significantly afterward, the researchers said, led by Dr. Rachelle Buchbinder of Cabrini Medical Center in Victoria, Australia.

The findings appear in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers tested a device called EPOS Ultra, made by Munich-based Dornier MedTech. It involves applying bursts of sound-wave pressure to the heel and was approved in January by the Food and Drug Administration after company-led studies showed it to be effective.

Kirk Wilks, marketing director for Dornier MedTech America, the company's Western Hemisphere distributor, said the Australian study is flawed because placebo patients received similar treatment but at much lower doses. Both groups also were allowed to continue wearing splints or other already prescribed devices.

Wilks said 21 machines have been sold in the United States since January. The devices are used worldwide, most commonly in Europe.