The April 2023 Foot & Ankle Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Outcomes following a two-stage revision total ankle arthroplasty for periprosthetic joint infection; Temporary bridge plate fixation and joint motion after an unstable Lisfranc injury; Outcomes of fusion in type II os naviculare; Total ankle arthroplasty versus arthrodesis for end-stage ankle osteoarthritis; Normal saline for plantar fasciitis: placebo or therapeutic?; Distraction arthroplasty for ankle osteoarthritis: does it work?; Let there be movement: ankle arthroplasty after previous fusion; Morbidity and mortality after diabetic Charcot foot arthropathy.

The accessory navicular (AN) is a separate ossification center for the tuberosity of the navicular that is present in approximately 5–14% of the general population. It produces a firm prominence on the plantar-medial aspect of the midfoot. There may be a co-existent flexible flatfoot, but there is no conclusive evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship between the two conditions. It is usually not symptomatic, and few cases necessitate operative intervention. When symptoms require surgical treatment, excision of the AN, with or without advancement of the posterior tibial tendon, usually is considered. To describe new technique of AN excision and tibialis posterior tendon advancement (TPTA) using a bio-absorbable tenodesis screw and to investigate the outcome of this cohort in comparison to conventional simple excision. Retrospective 2 Cohort study. Single surgeon series from single institution. All patients younger than 18 years from Jan 2000 to Aug 2012 undergoing simple excision (SE) or excision with TPTA were identified from the prospectively collected database. Case notes were reviewed and data regarding demographics, indications for surgery, presence of Pes Planus, time from presentation to surgery, length of follow-up, patient satisfaction and complications were recorded. Pain and functional outcome were measured using Visual Analogue Score (VAS) and patient reported outcome measure- Oxford Ankle Foot Questionnaire- Child and Teenager Version. There were 6 patients in SE group. There were 3 males and 3 females. Mean age at surgery was 13.9 years. Surgical indication was painful swelling in all patients and in addition 1 had pes planus. There were 7 in SE & TPTA group. There were 3 males and 4 females. The mean age at surgery was 13.1 years. Surgical indication was painful swelling in all patients and in addition 1 had hind foot rigidity and 3 had pes planus. Postoperative protocol involved weight bearing with or without cast in SE group and non-weight bearing in cast for 6 weeks in TPA group. All patients reported excellent to good outcome. There were no complications and no reoperations after tendon advancement. In conclusion, based on our study findings, we think AN excision and TP advancement is a safe and effective technique for symptomatic pain relief. It is a novel technique which achieved excellent to good outcome in our series

The aim of this retrospective study is to isolate the cases of “overuse syndromes” in young athletes in whom the initial diagnosis proved wrong. During six-year period 2002 – 2007, 28 young athletes (16 boys and 12 girls) aged 9.6 years (ranged from 6.5 to 14 years), suffering an underlying disease that had initially attributed to “overuse syndromes”, were treated in our Department. In all of the cases the history was misleading and the clinical examination was precarious, while the x-ray examination proved to be unclear. The remaining imaging exams led finally to the correct diagnosis that was confirmed in the operating room or via the biopsy. In 4 cases a slipped capital femoral epiphysis was ascertained. In other cases we verified an osteochondritis dissecans of femoral condyle or talus (4), an osteoid osteoma (4), Perthes disease (3), osteochondromas (3), calcaneonavicular synchondrosis (3), hemangioma (2), discoid meniscus (1), herpes zoster along the sciatic nerve (1), aneurysmal cyst of fibula (1), accessory navicular (1), and osteosarcoma of fibula (1). Overuse syndromes in young athletes should be treated with skepticism because another more serious disease may be hidden behind the symptoms and clinical signs. The children and adolescents have a skeleton that grows constantly and develops a special pathogenesis and this fact must be always kept in mind of parents, trainers and therapists. The young subjects who expect to be integrated in the athletic family should be previously examined by Pediatrician and Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon so that a congenital anomaly or an acquired disease will be diagnosed in time

Purpose: Currently, the modified Kidner procedure is recommended to treat the symptomatic accessory navicular that fails nonoperative management. Some foot and ankle specialists have cautioned that excision of the accessory navicular can lead to a progressive increase in pain and loss of the longitudinal arch. As a result, they have recommended ORIF of the symptomatic accessory navicular as a surgical alternative. To our knowledge, the only references to this surgical alternative in the orthopedic literature are two technique papers. Method: Between 1999 and 2005, 17 patients were treated with symptomatic type II accessory naviculars that failed nonoperative measures. A standard treatment algorithm was followed:. accessory naviculars of adequate size underwent an ORIF (10), and. accessory naviculars of smaller size underwent a modified Kidner procedure (7). Corrective osteotomies and/or soft-tissue procedures were performed concomitantly in nine patients to address pes planus. Pre- and postoperatively, patients were assessed radiographically. Preoperative MRI scans were analyzed to see if there was any correlation between MRI findings and success of ORIF. Patients were evaluated with the AOFAS midfoot clinical rating system (max 100 points). Results: In the patients treated with ORIF, average follow-up was 31 months. The average AOFAS mid-foot score improved from 49 to 89 points. Radiographic analysis suggested an 80% union rate. However, only one patient out of ten (10%) undergoing ORIF with subsequent nonunion was symptomatic and her pain resolved after screw removal. In the patients treated with excision, average followup was 48 months. The average AOFAS score improved from 45 to 78 points. Three of seven feet (43%) treated with accessory navicular excision had persistent midfoot pain at last followup with clinical and radiographic signs of progressive loss of the longitudinal arch. Twelve patients had a preoperative MRI of the foot with all showing edema suggesting an injury to the synchondrosis. We found no correlation between MRI findings and success of ORIF of the accessory navicular. Conclusion: As suggested by previous technique papers and this study, ORIF of the symptomatic type II accessory navicular may have merit. We anticipate that this study will prompt a comprehensive multicenter evaluation of this technique

We analyzed the radiographic results of patients treated surgically for flatfoot deformity and who underwent medial cuneiform opening wedge osteotomy as part of the operative procedure. The aim of this study was to confirm the utility of the cuneiform osteotomy as part of the correction of hindfoot and ankle deformity. All patients requiring operative management of flatfoot deformity between January 2002 and December 2007 were prospectively entered in a database. We selected all patients who underwent medial cuneiform opening wedge osteotomy. We measured standardized and validated radiographic parameters on pre and post-operative weight bearing radiographs of the foot. All radiographs were assessed using the digital imaging software package (Siemens). The following measurements were used: lateral talus-1st metatarsal angle; medial cuneiform to floor distance (mm), talar declination angle, calcaneal-talar angle, calcaneal pitch angle, 1st metatarsal declination angle, talonavicular coverage angle, and anteroposterior talus-1st metatarsal angle. Other variables including concomitant surgical procedures, healing of the osteotomy, malunion, and adjacent joint arthritis were also noted. There were 86 patients with a mean age of 36 years (range 9–80). 15 patients had bilateral surgery. The aetiology of the deformity was flexible flat-foot in 48, rupture of the posterior tibial tendon in 41, rigid flatfoot deformity with a fixed forefoot supination deformity in 7, and fixed forefoot varus with metatarsus elevatus in 5. In addition to an opening wedge medial cuneiform osteotomy, a lateral column lengthening calcaneus osteotomy was performed in 80, a gastrocnemius recession in 76, a supramalleolar osteotomy in 2, a triple arthrodesis in 4, a subtalar arthroerisis in 13, excision of an accessory navicular in 6, a tendon transfer in 15 and medial-slide calcaneal osteotomy in 8 patients. The mean lateral talus-1st metatarsal angle improved from 23° to 1°; the mean medial cuneiform to floor distance improved from 20mm to 34mm; the mean talar declination angle improved from 39° to 27°; the mean calcaneal-talar angle improved from 64° to 55°; the calcaneal pitch angle improved from 14° to 23°; the mean 1st metatarsal declination angle improved from 17° to 26°; the mean talonavicular coverage angle improved from 45° to 18°; and the mean anteroposterior talus-1st metatarsal angle improved from 19° to 0° Radiographical analysis confirms that the medial cuneiform opening wedge osteotomy is a reliable and valuable surgical tool in the correction of the forefoot which is associated with flatfoot deformity and that arthrodesis of the 1st metatarsocuneiform joint may not be required to obtain correction of the elevated 1st metatarsal

Interest in football continues to increase, with ever younger age groups participating at a competitive level. Football academies have sprung up under the umbrella of professional clubs in an attempt to nurture and develop such talent in a safe manner. However, increased participation predisposes the immature skeleton to injury. Over a five-year period we have prospectively collected data concerning all injuries presenting to the medical team at Newcastle United football academy. We identified 685 injuries in our cohort of 210 players with a mean age of 13.5 years (9 to 18). The majority of injuries (542;79%) were to the lower limb. A total of 20 surgical procedures were performed. Contact injuries accounted for 31% (210) of all injuries and non-contact for 69% (475).The peaks of injury occurred in early September and March. The 15- and 16-year-old age group appeared most at risk, independent of hours of participation. Strategies to minimise injury may be applicable in both the academy setting and the wider general community.

The accessory navicular is occasionally the source of pain and local tenderness over the instep. If conservative measures fail, surgical treatment may be required and the results of 62 operations to one or both feet in 47 patients are reported. Twenty-six patients were treated by the Kidner operation, in which the main insertion of the tibialis posterior is re-routed; in the remaining 21 the ossicle was merely excised. Excision was as effective as the Kidner technique, provided that the medial surface of the main navicular bone was contoured to prevent any residual prominence. Both procedures were successful in relieving symptoms in the majority of cases and failures resulted from errors in the selection of patients or in the surgical technique. Correction of any associated flat foot was secondary to growth and maturation of the foot rather than to the operation; hence the Kidner procedure does not confer any particular advantages over simple excision