Surgical management of tarsal coalition in adolescent athletes

The authors studied 12 adolescent patients with a known diagnosis of tarsal coalition. These patients were also active participants in athletics. Of the 12 patients studied, there were eight with calcaneonavicular bars and four with talocalcaneal bars. Even though nonoperative treatment was not successful, only eight of the 12 elected to have surgery. Following surgical resection of the tarsal coalition, five of six patients who had calcaneonavicular bar excisions as well as two patients with talocalcaneal bar excisions were able to return to competitive athletics. Nonoperative treatment of the tarsal coalition did not result in alleviation of symptoms and full return to athletics. The surgical excision of the calcaneonavicular bar with extensor digitorum brevis arthroplasty afforded the best results.