The MR imaging appearance of longitudinal split tears of the peroneus brevis tendon

Longitudinal split tears of the peroneus brevis tendon have been increasingly reported as a source of lateral ankle pain and disability. MR imaging is useful in identifying the appearance of longitudinal split tears of the peroneus brevis tendon to differentiate this entity from other causes of chronic lateral ankle pain. We observed variations in anatomy associated with these tears.

Twenty-two patients (eleven males, eleven females) were identified as having longitudinal split tears of the peroneus brevis tendon. These cases were reviewed retrospectively to evaluate for the following: shape of the peroneus brevis tendon, high signal in the peroneus brevis tendon, tendon subluxation, appearance of the superior peroneal retinaculum, presence of osseous changes in the ankle, lateral ankle ligaments, presence of a bony fibular spur, flattening of the peroneal groove of the fibula and presence of a peroneus quartus. A control group consisted of twenty ankles imaged for reasons other than lateral ankle pain. The same structures were assessed in this group. A Fisher's exact P-value was used to determine the significance of each finding in the two groups.

Statistically significant associated findings were chevron shaped tendon (p = .0001), high signal in the peroneus brevis (p = .0017), bony changes (p = .0001), flat peroneal groove (p = .0001), abnormal lateral ligaments (p = .0004), and lateral fibular spur (p = .0006).

MR imaging is useful in differentiating longitudinal split tears of the peroneus brevis tendon from other lateral ankle disorders. It can show the extent of the abnormality in the tendon and the associated findings of soft tissue and/or bone variations which must be addressed at the time of surgery.