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Morton’s Neuroma (Interdigital Neuralgia) Treated with Metatarsal Sliding Osteotomy

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Abstract

Background

Morton’s neuroma is a common cause of metatarsalgia and many treatments had been described in literature. However, there have been only a few reports that treat the neuroma with an osteotomy on the proximal, not distal portion of the metatarsal bone using a plate. This study describes the clinical outcome of sliding osteotomy on the proximal metatarsal bone for the treatment of Morton’s neuroma.

Materials and Methods

Sixty five consecutive patients (85 feet) who underwent surgery for Morton’s neuroma between November 2010 and February 2013 were identified from hospital records to include in this retrospective study. Average followup period was 37.3 months (range 24-51 months). Mean patient age at surgery was 50.2 years (range 23-75 years). Metatarsal sliding osteotomies were only performed on the third metatarsal bone. Clinical evaluations with the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Lesser Metatarsophalangeal Interphalangeal Scale (AOFAS LMIS) and Foot Function Index (FFI) were performed. The length of the lesser toe was measured for radiologic evaluation.

Results

Postoperatively, AOFAS LMIS and FFI were improved from 52.1 (range 45-60) and 62.4 (range 54-73) to 74.2 (range 68-86) and 31.3 (range 26-37). At the last followup, preoperative pain was dissolved in 79 feet (93% of overall 85 feet). A shortened 3.2 mm (±1.1) metatarsal bone following osteotomy was radiographically measured. There were six cases of complications (soft tissue infection, early numbness, delayed union, limitation of dorsifexion and metal failure, etc.).

Conclusion

This proximal metatarsal sliding osteotomy can be a relatively effective operative method in relieving pain from Morton’s neuroma.

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Correspondence to Heuichul Gwak.

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This is an open access artcle distributed under the terms of the Creatve Commons Atributon-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creatons are licensed under the identcal terms.

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Lee, J., Kim, J., Lee, M. et al. Morton’s Neuroma (Interdigital Neuralgia) Treated with Metatarsal Sliding Osteotomy. IJOO 51, 692–696 (2017). https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5413.217678

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