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Foot and Ankle Sports Orthopaedics pp 391–395Cite as

Morton’s Neuroma in Sports

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Abstract

Morton’s neuroma is a common cause of metatarsalgia which characterized by enlargement of interdigital nerve possibly due to nerve entrapment. Morton’s neuroma is usually common among middle age population with female gender predominance. Diagnosis of Morton’s neuroma is essentially clinical. Imaging modalities may help to delineate and localize the nerve lesion. Prone position foot MRI is associated with higher visibility of Morton’s neuroma. Identification of Morton’s neuroma, as a cause of metatarsalgia, tends to be missed by clinicians. Hence, high index of suspicion should be invested for this purpose. Proper footwear awareness should be emphasized among athletes. The cross-training shoes are discouraged for long distance running. Local steroid injection may provide temporary relief. Ultrasound-guided injection can improve the localization of injection. Neurectomy of the thickened nerve is considered the standard surgical treatment to date. Majority of surgeons prefer dorsal approach for first-time excision of Morton’s neuroma despite of its limited exposure reserving the plantar approach to the revision cases. Plantar surgical approach provides direct anatomical access and allows wide exploration of the area of neuroma. Recurrent neuroma is a major concern after neurectomy. Deep burial of nerve stump within the intermetatarsal soft tissues might minimize the risk of recurrent neuroma formation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, King Saud University, 7805, Riyadh, 11472, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Hamza M. Alrabai MD

  2. Orthopedic Surgery Department, Taibah University, College of Medicine, Almadinah Almunawwarah, Saudi Arabia

    Yousef Alrashidi

  3. Orthopaedic Department, SWISS ORTHO CENTER, Schmerzklinik Basel, Swiss Medical Network, Basel, Switzerland

    Yousef Alrashidi & Victor Valderrabano MD, PhD

  4. Clinic Grangettes, Geneva, Switzerland

    Marino Delmi

Authors
  1. Hamza M. Alrabai MD
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  2. Yousef Alrashidi
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  3. Victor Valderrabano MD, PhD
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  4. Marino Delmi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hamza M. Alrabai MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Medical Network Basel, Orthopaedic Department SWISS ORTHO CENTER Schmerzklinik Basel, Basel Stadt, Switzerland

    Victor Valderrabano

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Mark Easley

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Alrabai, H.M., Alrashidi, Y., Valderrabano, V., Delmi, M. (2016). Morton’s Neuroma in Sports. In: Valderrabano, V., Easley, M. (eds) Foot and Ankle Sports Orthopaedics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15735-1_42

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15735-1_42

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15734-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15735-1

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