Vivek Tiwari

Introduction: Plantar fasciitis is a debilitating clinical condition and is one of the most common causes of heel pain. The risk factors include frequent and prolonged running, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, work-related weight bearing, and inappropriate footwear. Ultrasonography being a non-invasive, cost-effective, and easily available modality is a useful adjunct in the diagnosis. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted among 30 patients with unilateral plantar fasciitis. The diagnosis was based on history and examination. Heel pad thickness and plantar fascia thickness were recorded using ultrasonography. Results: The ultrasonography results showed increased plantar fascia and heel pad thickness in the affected limb with plantar fasciitis than the normal one (p<0.001). The BMI was positively correlated with the heel pad thickness (p<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed 90% sensitivity and 60% specificity for heel pad thickness (p<0.001). Conclusions: Ultrasonography is a sensitive and specific tool to identify patients with plantar fasciitis.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has drastically affected healthcare delivery to cancer patients, including those with malignant bone tumors, worldwide. Such cancer patients are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection and risk contracting the severe disease, but their holistic tumor management has also suffered a significant impact. Because of the acute shortage of healthcare resources due to their diversion in COVID management, substantial changes are needed in various aspects of management for high-grade tumor patients, particularly in developing countries and population-dense regions, so that their evidence-based appropriate treatment is ensured. Owing to a lack of consensus regarding the ideal course of action for the management of malignant bone tumors in the current situation, many such patients often get neglected, leading to loss of life/limb. This review elaborates on various guidelines proposed by different healthcare organizations and institutes regarding the modified care pathways for malignant bone neoplasms in the current coronavirus pandemic. The early published results of these modified care pathways and the changes in the oncology practice brought about by the pandemic are also discussed.

Lipomas are benign lesions of adipose tissue, which commonly affect the soft tissues but are rarely found in the musculoskeletal system. Intraosseous lipomas are rare benign tumors and even rarer in calcaneum, only to be found incidentally in the majority of cases. We report a case of a 45-year-old male patient who presented to the outpatient department with complaints of bilateral heel pain, which was initially treated conservatively as the presentation was similar to plantar fasciitis. On further follow-up, a plain radiograph of the ankles was taken, which showed a lytic lesion of the calcaneum with mild sclerotic margins on the right side with normal left foot radiographs. On magnetic resonance imaging, the lytic lesion demonstrated hyperintense signals on T1-weighted sagittal images, characteristic of fatty tissue, which helped us in arriving at the diagnosis of an intraosseous lipoma. The patient was treated by conservative means with physiotherapy, which relieved the pain, and on serial follow-ups, the lesion was found non-progressive on successive radiological evaluation. The differential diagnosis of such an entity includes plantar fasciitis, tumors such as an aneurysmal bone cyst, bone infarct, etc. With the increasing use of magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans, physicians should be aware of the possibility of an intraosseous lipoma of the calcaneum, which should be ruled out during evaluation. Although possible, malignant pathology or aggressive transformation of such lesions is very rare; however, the lesion should be evaluated adequately and managed by surgical means in cases non-responsive to various conservative modalities.

Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis still remains an important differential diagnosis for chronic musculoskeletal ailments in developing countries like India and may involve any part of the body without characteristic systemic features. We are presenting a rare case of a four-year-old female child, who came to our tertiary-care hospital with chief complaints of pain in the left foot along with a gradually increasing swelling over the dorsum of the foot for the past five months. There was no history of trauma or constitutional symptoms. The serum inflammatory markers were found raised, and X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging revealed an isolated lytic lesion in the talus bone. Debridement, as well as curettage of the lesion, was done, both as a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure. A caseous cheesy material was evacuated and sent for microbiological and histopathological evaluation, which revealed the presence of acid-fast bacilli and granulomatous lesion confirming the diagnosis of tuberculosis. The patient was started with anti-tubercular chemotherapy, which continued for a total duration of 14 months, along with foot and ankle immobilization in a below-knee cast for three months. After completion of therapy, there was complete resolution of the lytic lesion on x-ray, with full symptom relief, and a full range of movement of the ankle was obtained. In cases with longstanding pain and swelling of the foot, with or without associated systemic symptoms, tuberculosis should be considered as a strong differential diagnosis even in young children, especially in developing countries. Diagnostic and therapeutic curettage along with anti-tubercular chemotherapy can result in a good functional outcome in such patients.

We describe the case of a 20-year-old man who presented with a bony swelling over the medial proximal tibia that caused pain along the pes anserinus tendons, and a history of multiple asymptomatic bony swellings. Wide extraperiosteal resection of the swelling relieved the symptoms with a good outcome within a year. This report describes the pictorial pathoanatomy of a relatively rare association of pes anserinus syndrome caused by osteochondroma in an adult patient. Proximal tibial osteochondromas can also present as pes anserinus syndrome in adult patients with diaphyseal aclasis. Large swellings require wide excision to relieve the stretching pain of pes tendons.

Fractures involving the physes are peculiar to the pediatric age group with growing bones. These injuries, if not managed with due precaution, can lead to complications like physeal arrest and the development of deformity. Such injuries are much more common in the upper limbs as compared to the lower limbs. Physeal injuries involving the small bones of the foot are extremely rare. To date, no case of Salter-Harris type 2 physeal injury involving proximal phalanx of the great toe has been reported in the English literature. We report the first such case of a 10-year-old child who sustained a Salter-Harris type 2 physeal injury of the right great toe proximal phalanx. The fracture was managed conservatively with splintage of the great toe, and the child had good outcome at one year without any adverse sequelae.

Schwannomas are rarely seen in the foot and ankle and mostly arise from the plantar aspect. Dorsal foot schwannomas are not commonly reported. We describe the case of a 25-year-old man who had a painful swelling on the dorsum of his right foot, which resembled a ganglion cyst on clinical examination and ultrasonography findings. Persistent symptoms prompted the need for an excisional biopsy, which revealed a benign schwannoma arising from the medial dorsal cutaneous nerve. Complete and careful excision relieved the symptoms without causing any distal neural deficit. Thus, schwannomas can mimic as a ganglion cyst. Excisional biopsy of such swellings, if symptomatic, helps in confirming the diagnosis, and provides a good functional outcome.

Pediatric distal forearm fractures are very commonly seen in orthopedic and trauma services. The majority of such fractures involve either distal radius alone or concomitant with distal ulna physis. Isolated injuries of the distal ulna physis are exceedingly rare. Moreover, only one case of isolated Salter-Harris type III distal ulnar physeal injury has been reported in English literature. We report the second such case of isolated distal ulnar physeal injury with Salter-Harris type III pattern in a 15-year-old male child. The injury was treated conservatively in a short-arm splint for four weeks with a good outcome. At the last follow-up of one year, there was no physeal abnormality or growth disturbance detected. Such injuries need to be ruled out in all pediatric distal forearm fractures and can be managed conservatively, if undisplaced, with good outcomes. These patients also need regular monitoring till the closure of the physis to look for the development of any ulnar shortening or deformity due to physeal growth arrest.

Introduction Congruent arc Latarjet procedure involves rotating the coracoid process so that its inferior surface is flush with the glenoid face, owing to their matching radius of curvature (ROC). However, there has been no cadaveric study to actually measure and compare the ROC of coracoid with glenoid, especially in Indian population. Materials and methods 44 shoulders were dissected in 24 cadavers to measure usable length of coracoid process, width, height, ROC of coracoid and glenoid as well as ulnar length (as proxy of cadaver height). Critical coracoid height and length were estimated based on screw sizes of 2.7 mm, 3.5 mm, 4 mm and 4.5 mm, and pair concordance between height and length calculated. ROC of coracoid and glenoid were compared to measure extent of congruency. Results The mean usable length of coracoid process, width and height at mid-point were 21.8 mm, 13.7 mm and 8.6 mm, respectively. Out of the different screw sizes, 2.7 mm screws were found safe in 82% shoulders. 24 coracoid–glenoid pairs fulfilled the operational definition (≤ 5 mm) of congruency while rest 20 were seemingly incongruent chiefly due to coracoid variations, with mean ROC difference 4.13 mm (95% CI 1.51–6.74 mm). The ulnar length was significantly smaller in the incongruent ROC group (p = 0.0002). Conclusions The available length as well as height of the transferred coracoid must be considered when deciding optimum diameter fixation screws in Latarjet procedure. Owing to smaller anatomic dimensions of coracoid in Indian population, 2.7-mm screws provide the safest fixation option. Also, the ROC of coracoid and glenoid does not match in substantial proportion of the cadavers. Pre-operative planning should include a CT-based assessment of glenoid and coracoid dimensions to decide the technique of Latarjet procedure and the optimum diameter fixation screws required.