Adjacent tissue involvement of acute inflammatory ankle arthritis on magnetic resonance imaging findings

The ankle joint and surrounding subtalar joint have several tendons in close proximity. This study was performed to investigate the concurrent adjacent tissue involvement on MRI findings when the surgical treatment is considered for an acute inflammatory arthritis of the ankle joint.

Consecutive patients with acute inflammatory ankle arthritis who visited the emergency room and underwent MRI were included. After interobserver reliability testing of MRI findings, adjacent tissue involvement in the acute inflammatory ankle arthritis were evaluated including flexor hallucis longus (FHL), flexor digitorum longus (FDL), tibialis posterior (TP), peroneus longus (PL), peroneus brevis (PB), extensor digitorum longus (EDL), tibialis anterior (Tib Ant), extensor hallucis longus (EHL), subtalar joint, talus, tibia, and calcaneus.

Twenty-five patients (mean age 57.8 years; 16 males and nine females) were included. Of the 25 patients, 23 showed FHL involvement, 21 FDL, 21 TP, 15 PL, 15 PB, three EDL, 21 subtalar joint, six talus, six tibia, and five calcaneus on MR images. No Tib Ant or EHL involvement was observed on MR findings in acute inflammatory ankle arthritis.

Patients with acute inflammatory ankle arthritis showed frequent concomitant surrounding tissue involvement on MRI, which included FHL, FDL, TP, and subtalar joint. This needs to be considered when surgical drainage is planned for acute inflammatory ankle arthritis.