Sports and other soft tissue injuries, tendinitis, bursitis, and occupation-related syndromes

This review highlights three areas: plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. The diagnosis and treatment of plantar fasciit is are reviewed; nonsurgical treatments remain the mainstay of management. Several recent articles support the use of night splints, Some novel treatm ents recently investigated, including low intensity laser irradiation and e xtracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, are reviewed, as well as the effectiv eness of steroid injection. Novel treatments for Achilles tendinitis are al so reviewed, including the use of injection therapy and the treatment appro ach of one author for the management of Achilles tendon rupture. Nonsurgica l techniques in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome, such as yoga, ultr asound, noninvasive laser neurolysis, manipulation, nerve and tendon glidin g exercises, and medications, are reviewed. Prednisolone was shown to be ef fective in the treatment of mild to moderate disease and nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory drugs were found to be ineffective. Curr Opin Rheumatol 2000. 12:150-154 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.