Abstract
Heel pain is one of the most common reasons for referral to the foot and ankle surgeon. It can be attributed to various pathologies, which tend to originate from the calcaneum and surrounding soft tissues. Diagnosis is achieved in the majority of cases from the presenting history and clinical examination. Radiological investigations are especially useful in investigating atypical presentations.
Heel pain can be broadly divided into posterior heel pain and plantar heel pain. The most common cause of plantar heel pain is plantar fasciitis, but differential diagnoses include plantar fascial tears, ruptures, and nerve entrapment lesions. Posterior heel pain is usually associated with insertional Achilles tendinopathy, a Haglund’s deformity and retrocalcaneal bursitis, (often referred to as “Haglunds’ triad”). In both plantar and posterior heel pain, the clinician should always consider the more unusual diagnoses which include calcaneal stress fractures, enthesopathies, infection and tumour. Clinical management is dependent upon accurate diagnosis.
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Cullen, N., Ghassemi, A. (2014). Heel Pain. In: Bentley, G. (eds) European Surgical Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34746-7_248
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34746-7_248
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