Surgical Management of Tarsal Coalition in Skeletally Immature Patients

Abstract

Tarsal coalition is the abnormality in which two or more tarsal bones are interconnected by bone, cartilage and/or fibrous tissue. Calcaneonavicular and talocalcaneal coalitions are the most common types. The patient presents with a history of chronic pain with activity, following a traumatic injury, or with repetitive sprains. Symptoms usually are vague dorsolateral foot pain centering around the sinus tarsi, difficulty walking on uneven surfaces, foot fatigue and painful limp. Uses of CT and MRI is recommended in decision making. CT scanning with coronal cuts is the gold standard investigation. The physiotherapy and conservative approaches such as modified shoe-wear. The anti-inflammatory medications is useful. The surgical orthopedic techniques available to correct deformity can be divided into: Soft tissue procedure, bony (osteotomies and arthrodesis) procedure.