Augmentation of atrophic plantar soft tissue with an acellular dermal allograft: a series review

Treatment of plantar fat pad migration and atrophy has caused concern for decades. Patients can present with pain, callus formation, or ulceration. The purpose of this article is to review the results of a consecutive series of patients treated for fat pad atrophy of the plantar foot, using a minimally invasive implantation of an acellular human dermal allograft as a tissue augmentation. This material was chosen for the fat pad supplementation because of previous reports of success in tendon and ligament augmentation, wound healing, and interpositional arthroplasty.