Arthroscopic surgery for treatment of sinus tarsi syndrome / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the result of arthroscopic surgery in the treatment of sinus tarsi syndrome. Methods The study involved 15 patients (6 males and 9 females) with sinus tarsi syndrome admitted to First Hospital of Nanjing from July 2006 to May 2008. The age of the patients ranged from 23 to 63 years ( average 46.3 years). All the patients had one side involvement, including 10 patients with left side involvement and five with right side involvement. All the operations were performed under the tourniquet control and the patients were placed at the lateral decubitus position. The lateral, anterolateral and posterolateral portals were applied intraoperatively and the medial portal was applied when necessary. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and American orthopedic foot and ankle scale (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scale were used for follow-up evaluation. Results More than two lesions were found under arthroscope in all patients. The lesions included scar tissue hypertrophy and inflammation in the sinus tarsal canal, soft tissue impingement in the subtalar joint, synovitis, partial tears of subtalar capsule, interosseous talocalcaneal ligament or cervical ligament, cartilage injury and subtalar degeneration. All patients were followed up for 19-35 months (mean 26. 1 months). At the final follow-up, the VAS score was improved from preoperative 7.6 points ( range 6-9 points) to postoperative 2.5 points (range 1-4 points) (P＜0.01 ), and the AOFAS score improved from preoperative 41. 9 points (range 20-67 points) to postoperative 83. 1 points ( range 70-100 points) ( P ＜ 0. 01 ). The excellence rate of the AOFAS score reached 73% at the final follow-up. Conclusion For patients with sinus tarsi syndrome after a failed conservative treatment, arthroscopic surgery should be performed as soon as possible and the clinical result is satisfactory.