A ganglion causing the tarsal tunnel syndrome: report of a case

The tarsal tunnel syndrome is a complex of symptoms affecting the foot produced by compression neuropathy of the posterior tibial nerve on the medial aspect of the ankle, within the fibrous osseous "tunnel" that has the posteromedial aspect of the tibia as its floor and the flexor retinaculum as its roof. Keck first drew attention to this entity in 1962, and was followed by Lam in the same year. Despite sporadic reports following these documentations, the clinical recognition of the syndrome is often delayed. It is still frequently misdiagnosed as acute foot strain or plantar fasciitis at its initial presentation (Kopell and Thompson, 1963; Lam, 1962, 1967). In this paper we report a case of tarsal tunnel syndrome caused by compression of the posterior tibial nerve by a ganglion at the ankle.