Ketoprofen Gel as an Adjunct to Physical Therapist Management of a Child With Sever Disease

Background and Purpose. Sever disease is the most common cause of heel pain in athletic children. The purpose of this case report is to describe the addition of ketoprofen gel to the physical therapy intervention of a child with Sever disease. Case Description. The patient was an 8-year-old girl diagnosed with Sever disease. Physical therapy intervention consisted of 6 visits over a 3-week period with traditional interventions (including rest, discontinuation of activities that aggravate the condition, hot and cold packs, heel lifts, calf stretching, and strengthening) and the addition of ketoprofen gel to reduce local inflammation and relieve pain. Outcomes. The patient demonstrated improvement in all outcome measures: pain rating, the Lower Extremity Functional Scale, strength, and range of motion. Discussion. The child had relief of pain and returned to activities after 18 days of intervention, which was 30 days less than reports of intervention in the literature that did not include the use of ketopro-fen gel. [White RL. Ketoprofen gel as an adjunct to physical therapist management of a child with Sever disease. Phys Ther. 2006;86:424