An Unusual Cause of Intractable Heel Pain

Abstract We report a case of severe heel pain that did not respond to noninvasive measures. Magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed a soft tissue mass that after complete surgical excision was found to be an epidermal cyst. The patient experienced full resolution of the symptoms after excision of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of foot and ankle surgery 2011-11, Vol.50 (6), p.744-746
Main Authors: Ghani, Samuel, MRCS, Fazal, Muhammad Ali, FRCS(Orth)
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
biopsy
Biopsy, Needle
Diseases of the osteoarticular system
epidermal cyst
Epidermal Cyst - complications
Epidermal Cyst - diagnosis
Epidermal Cyst - surgery
Follow-Up Studies
foot
Foot Diseases - complications
Foot Diseases - diagnosis
Foot Diseases - surgery
Heel
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
infundibular cyst
magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Orthopedic Procedures - methods
Orthopedics
Pain Measurement
Pain, Intractable - diagnosis
Pain, Intractable - etiology
Rare Diseases
surgery
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:Abstract We report a case of severe heel pain that did not respond to noninvasive measures. Magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed a soft tissue mass that after complete surgical excision was found to be an epidermal cyst. The patient experienced full resolution of the symptoms after excision of the epidermal cyst. To our knowledge, intractable heel pain due to an epidermal cyst is rare. We were unable to identify a previous publication describing the presence of an epidermal cyst localized to the heel without a history of previous trauma. From our experience with the present case, we believe that clinicians should consider the possibility of an epidermal inclusion cyst and should have a low threshold for obtaining magnetic resonance imaging scans, in particular, before the initiation of invasive treatment, in the case of intractable heel pain.
ISSN:1067-2516
1542-2224
DOI:10.1053/j.jfas.2011.06.014