Rare Osteochondroma of the Posterior Talar Process: A Case Report

Osteochondromas are benign bone tumors that arise from divergent cartilage formation, most commonly in childhood versus adulthood. We report the case of a healthy 42-year-old woman who presented with an unusual solitary posterolateral ankle mass with associated pain and ankle impingement with 6-week follow-up. The patient was successfully treated with open surgical excision, with bone sent for pathologic diagnosis of benign osteochondroma. The patient returned to normal baseline function with no pain at 6-week follow-up. An open posterior ankle incision approach was performed to remove suspicious enlarged bony growth from the posterior talar process to be sent for pathologic evaluation. Pathologic evaluation reported benign osteochondroma of the posterior talar process, and the patient subsequently had routine healing of the postoperative incision site and return to full function without pain or disability at 6-week follow-up. This case study adds to the current understanding, incidence, occurrence, and treatment of rare osteochondromas occurring in the posterior talar process.