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Ultrasonographic test for detecting the chiasma plantare formation between the flexor hallucis longus and flexor digitorum longus

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Abstract

Purpose

Flexor hallucis longus (FHL) and flexor digitorum longus (FDL) tendons are frequently used in surgery. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the chiasma plantare formation preoperatively. The development of ultrasonography (US) may help the chiasma plantare formation evaluation. The purpose of this study is to prove the usefulness of the US method using cadavers.

Methods

Eleven cases (twenty-two ankles) were obtained from Asian adult cadavers. At first, we evaluated and compared the chiasma plantare formation using US. Later, we evaluated that using the findings after dissection as type A (connection from FHL to FDL of the second toe), type B (connection from FHL to the second and third toes), type C (connection from FHL to the second through fourth toes), or type D (connection from FHL to all lesser toes).

Results

Chiasma plantare formation was classified as types A and B in fifteen and seven ankles, respectively. After dissection, chiasma plantare formation was classified as types A, B, and C in fourteen, six, and two ankles, respectively. Therefore, there was an 86% similarity between the two methods.

Conclusions

Chiasma plantare formation can be reliably and noninvasively evaluated using US. This may be useful for preoperative rehabilitation or surgical procedure planning.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank those anonymous individuals who generously donated their bodies so that this study could be performed.

Funding

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation, Heisei Memorial Hospital, 827, Shijyocho, Kashihara, Nara, 634-0813, Japan

    Daisuke Bai

  2. Graduate School of Medicine, Musculoskeletal Reconstructive Surgery, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan

    Daisuke Bai, Hiroaki Kurokawa, Shigeki Morita, Takuma Miyamoto & Yasuhito Tanaka

  3. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan

    Hiroaki Kurokawa, Shigeki Morita, Takuma Miyamoto & Yasuhito Tanaka

  4. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Pasuk Mahakkanukrauh

Authors
  1. Daisuke Bai
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  2. Hiroaki Kurokawa
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  3. Shigeki Morita
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  4. Takuma Miyamoto
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  5. Pasuk Mahakkanukrauh
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  6. Yasuhito Tanaka
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Contributions

DB and HK contributed to study design and data collection, and drafted the manuscript; SM and TM contributed to data analysis and made critical revisions to the manuscript; PM made critical revisions to the manuscript; YT supervised the study, contributed to analysis and interpretation of data, and made critical revisions to the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript prior to submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daisuke Bai.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The methods were carried out in accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. And this anatomical study was approved by the ethics committee of our department (ANA-2562-06064).

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Bai, D., Kurokawa, H., Morita, S. et al. Ultrasonographic test for detecting the chiasma plantare formation between the flexor hallucis longus and flexor digitorum longus. Surg Radiol Anat 43, 1061–1065 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02630-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02630-4

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