Background: The practice of flamenco dance involves great biomechanical demands, comparable with a high-performance sport. The technical movements of the footwork tap, the jumps, and the turns increase the prevalence of injuries and pathologic disorders of the foot and lower limb. Limited research has examined adaptation of the foot posture and dorsiflexion of the ankle in flamenco dancing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether the practice of flamenco dancing produces modifications in the ankle’s dorsiflexion range of motion, Foot Posture Index, or pronation.
Methods: A cross-sectional observational study with intentional sampling was performed with 26 individuals (52 feet) in two groups: professional female flamenco dancers (n = 13) and nondancers (n = 13). The participants were assessed in a single session for ankle dorsiflexion, foot pronation (navicular drop test), and foot posture (Foot Posture Index).
Results: Significant differences were found between the two groups for left foot Foot Posture Index (P = .007) and right foot navicular drop test (P = .006).
Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that flamenco dancing can produce modifications in the Foot Posture Index and foot pronation versus nondancers. Further research is required.
Background: Diabetic lower-extremity disease is the primary driver of mortality in patients with diabetes. Amputations at the forefoot or ankle preserve limb length, increase function, and, ultimately, reduce deconditioning and mortality compared with higher-level amputations, such as below-the-knee amputations (BKAs). We sought to identify risk factors associated with amputation level to understand barriers to length-preserving amputations (LPAs).
Methods: Diabetic lower-extremity admissions were extracted from the 2012-2014 National Inpatient Survey using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes. The main outcome was a two-level variable consisting of LPAs (transmetatarsal, Syme, and Chopart) versus BKAs. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine contributions of patient- and hospital-level factors to likelihood of undergoing LPA versus BKA.
Results: The study cohort represented 110,355 admissions nationally: 42,375 LPAs and 67,980 BKAs. The population was predominantly white (56.85%), older than 50 years (82.55%), and male (70.38%). On multivariate analysis, living in an urban area (relative risk ratio [RRR] = 1.48; P < .0001) and having vascular intervention in the same hospital stay (RRR = 2.96; P < .0001) were predictive of LPA. Patients from rural locations but treated in urban centers were more likely to receive BKA. Minorities were more likely to present with severe disease, limiting delivery of LPAs. A high Elixhauser comorbidity score was related to BKA receipt.
Conclusions: This study identifies delivery biases in amputation level for patients without access to large, urban hospitals. Rural patients seeking care in these centers are more likely to receive higher-level amputations. Further examination is required to determine whether earlier referral to multidisciplinary centers is more effective at reducing BKA rates versus satellite centers in rural localities.
Background: Fungal foot infection is a common superficial fungal infection and is recognized as an important public health problem. Related to the wearing of occlusive footwear, foot infection is usually caused by dermatophytes and nondermatophyte molds. Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have antimicrobial activity against fungi. This study, therefore, evaluated the ability of socks coated with ZnO-NPs to inhibit fungal growth in an in vitro model mimicking real-life situations.
Methods: Scale from patients with fungal foot infections was equally divided into three groups: control, plain socks, and ZnO-NP socks. The specimens in the control group were routinely fungal cultured, whereas in the plain sock and ZnO-NP sock groups, scale was incubated with plain socks and ZnO-NP socks, respectively, for 24 hours. After incubation, each piece of sock was cultured. The fungal culture results of the three groups were progressively evaluated for 4 weeks.
Results: From 31 specimens, the positive fungal culture results of the control, plain sock, and ZnO-NP sock groups were 100%, 64.5%, and 54.8%, respectively. Specimens incubated with plain socks (P = .001) or with ZnO-NP socks (P < .001) had a significant reduction in the number of positive fungal cultures compared with the control.
Conclusions: Plain socks and ZnO-NP socks significantly inhibited fungal growth relative to the control. The wearing of either plain socks or ZnO-NP socks can prevent fungal foot infection because these socks act as a barrier to the insoles of shoes.
Background: The biomechanics of the foot and leg are responsible for shock absorption during human gait. Lack of shock absorption is known to be a key component of knee pain. This study compares a new model of shoe sole with a built-in modification intended to absorb shock with a traditional sole shoe to examine whether shoe design modifications can help alleviate knee pain.
Methods: A double-blind randomized controlled study was performed. Fifty-two adults with overuse symptoms of knee pain, either unilateral or bilateral, were enrolled and randomly assigned to use the intervention sole or the traditional sole shoes. For 5 weeks, participants wore either the shoe with the intervention sole or the shoe with the traditional sole, rating their knee pain on a 10-point visual analog scale at study onset, midway, and study completion.
Results: After 5 weeks, participants using the intervention sole shoe reported an average reduction in knee pain of 85%, significantly better than participants using the traditional sole shoe (P < .001), whose average pain scores increased. Positive effects on back and foot pain were also observed in those with the intervention sole shoe compared with the traditional sole shoe.
Conclusions: The intervention shock-absorbing sole represents an approach to midsole and outsole construction that can potentially increase shock absorption and decrease knee pain during prolonged standing and walking.
Background: The human foot, containing approximately 26 bones, is highly developed for movement, balance, and weightbearing. It is modified into medial longitudinal, lateral longitudinal, and transverse arches which, in addition to the above functions, play a role in protecting the plantar tissues and neurovascular structures. Morphometry of the navicular bone, one of the bones of the foot that plays an important role in the medial longitudinal arch, was investigated in this study.
Methods: One hundred fifty adult dry navicular bones were used. Navicular breadth, height, maximum thickness, maximum talar facet height and breadth, maximum cuneiform facet height and breadth, and maximum navicular tuberosity projection height were measured using digital Vernier callipers. The anatomical features were used to determine the side. Bones with features that suggested previous fractures or any previous disease were excluded from this study. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the Department of Anatomy, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria.
Results: The navicular bone showed great variations in its left and right sides, with the values of the dimensions on the left being higher than the right.
Conclusions: An understanding of these variations will be helpful to medical scientists, osteologists, and orthopedic surgeons during surgical interventions on navicular bone fracture and accessory navicular syndrome.
Pseudoaneurysms are created by a traumatic or iatrogenic perforation of an artery, resulting in accumulation of blood between the two outermost layers of a blood vessel, the tunica media and tunica adventitia. Pedal artery pseudoaneurysms are an extremely uncommon complication of foot and ankle surgery; therefore, few cases have been reported in the literature. Early diagnosis is important to ensure timely treatment of this condition. Once clinical suspicion has been established, urgent referral to vascular surgery for prompt surgical evaluation is required to prevent potentially harmful sequalae. We present the case of a 70-year-old female who developed a pseudoaneurysm of the dorsalis pedis artery 33 days after undergoing open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) of a second metatarsal fracture. Her treatment included urgent referral to vascular surgery with subsequent surgical repair of the pseudoaneurysm via ligation of the medial dorsal branch of the dorsalis pedis artery. At 10-month follow-up, she denied any pain, sensory deficits, or functional disability and had returned to all preinjury activities with no recurrence of the pseudoaneurysm. Our case study demonstrates early diagnosis and successful treatment of a pseudoaneurysm of the dorsalis pedis artery that developed shorty after ORIF of a second metatarsal fracture.
Background: Ballet dancers are exposed to high rates of foot and ankle injury. Nevertheless, there have been limited efforts to capture their perspectives regarding risk of injury, treatment compliance, and prevention. The purpose of this study was to portray the perspectives of ballet dancers collected through organized focus group discussions.
Methods: Seven focus group sessions were conducted, with 47 ballet dancers participating. The conversation was directed to consider a variety of factors related to injury, both direct and remote. Transcripts from these focus groups were coded into ten major themes: internal pressure, external pressure, ballet milestones, seeking treatment, treatment compliance, targeted treatment, return to dance, nondance activities, physical fatigue, and activity preparation.
Results: It was found that participants returned to dancing prematurely after injury, faced significant internal and external pressure, lacked adherence to suggested treatment, and identified provider communication as lacking.
Conclusions: The results of this study can help with efforts to reduce injuries, encourage treatment compliance, and improve injury prevention. Future studies might consider the effectiveness of specific interventional approaches.
Ledderhose disease (plantar fibromas) is histologically related to Dupuytren disease, which has been successfully treated for years with radiotherapy. Many conservative treatments have been advanced for plantar fibromas, including accommodative orthotic devices, which help but do not cure the disease. Surgery is considered the mainstay of treatment for this malady, but the failure rate has been as high as 100%, depending on the type of fasciectomy. Radiotherapy is a new, exciting modality that has shown promising results for treating plantar fibromas.
Background: Clinical diagnosis of pediatric flexible flatfoot is still a challenging issue for health-care professionals. Clarke’s angle (CA) is frequently used clinically for assessing foot posture; however, there is still debate about its validity and diagnostic accuracy in evaluation of static foot posture especially in the pediatric population, with some previous studies supporting and others refuting its validity. The present study aimed to investigate the validity and diagnostic accuracy of the CA using radiographic findings as a criterion standard measure to determine flexible flatfoot between ages 6 and 18 years.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 612 participants (1224 feet) with flexible flatfoot aged 6 to 18 years (mean ± SD age, 12.36 ± 3.39 years) was recruited. The clinical measure results were compared with the criterion standard radiographic measures and displayed on the receiver operating characteristic curve, and the area under the curve was computed. Intrarater reliability, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios were calculated for the CA. A Fagan nomogram was used to detect post-test probability.
Results: The CA demonstrated higher intrarater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.997), sensitivity (98.4%), specificity (98.8), positive predictive value (97.3), negative predictive value (99.3), positive likelihood ratio (84), and negative likelihood ratio (0.02). The area under the curve was 0.98. The positive likelihood ratio yielded a post-test probability of 97%, and the negative likelihood ratio yielded a post-test probability of 0.02.
Conclusions: The CA is a valid measure with high diagnostic accuracy in the diagnosis of flexible flatfoot between ages 6 and 18 years.
Abstract
Unstable fracture-dislocation of the ankle is a common lower extremity injury. Treatment is challenging when the fracture-dislocation is open and cannot be treated with conventional open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF). Immediate ORIF may not be possible for severe, unstable ankle injuries, such as those with ischemic foot due to a poor blood supply caused by soft tissue injury, or open fracture-dislocation of the ankle with a deltoid ligament rupture. We described a staged treatment for unstable open fracture-dislocation of the ankle with a deltoid ligament rupture. The first stage involves temporary vertical transarticular pinning combined with external fixation. The second stage involves delayed definitive plating with autogenous bone graft for the bone defect of the distal fibula. This staged management is useful in select emergency cases of unstable open fracture-dislocations of the ankle combined with deltoid ligament rupture for which conventional ORIF cannot be performed.
