has anyone heard of tarsal coalition? - Bone Disorders Message Board

2manypills · 01-24-2004, 07:26 AM

hi i need to know if anyone has ever even heard of this or has any expierience dealing with this condition.i know that it is a extra growth ethiet cartilage,fiber or bone that grows inbetween the tarsal bones of the foot or in a cavity within a joint.i am familiar with this becaude my 12 year old daughter has this condition,the ortho says its rare 1 in 10000.we found out she has this last year,she was on a basketball team as well as playing softball and sometimes her ankle would hurt so bad at the end of the day she couldnt walk.so we went to the dr then the ortho who suspected this and he had an mri done.hers is the worst case senirio because hers is bone,and within her ankle and grown more than 50% through the space,so basically the extra bone is fusing her ankle together in this area,all her pain was because the extra bone had stress fractures,it was trying to bend or flex but was unable to to it was breaking. she had to wear a hard case for 8 weeks to heal the bone,which cannot be remove as is will do more harm to enter the joint,total fusion is her only option.it has been a year and it has only hurt a few times,minor ache if it gets twisted,but nothing major.it is softball time again and i am worried about all the running and strain this ankle will endure.the dr cant give us any long term expectations as it is rare.so i am interested i anyone who has information about this.thanks...chelsea

nanshe · 06-01-2004, 11:41 PM

Hi!

I see that you made your post in January, but I just signed up for this forum tonight. In fact, it was your question that you posted that came up in a search engine search - which brought me here - so THANK YOU!

Actually the reason I was coming here, was to see if other people ALSO suffered from the dreaded "talo-calcaneal coalition". It is decidedly quite painful!

I feel for your daughter. Not only was I born with it (and didn't know until I was in my 30's), but so were both of my daughters - apparently it's hereditary. My oldest daughters was a calc-navicular, mine was a subtalor, my youngest is a talo-calc.

Because of the extensive damage to my foot and ankle from the arthritis (mine was also a bony coalition), I had to get my ankle fused. I can give you more info about this if you'd like, but you are definatly off your feet a minimum of 6 weeks. I was off for 4 months, but I don't think your daughter would have the problems I had, because she's so young.

My daughters were fortunate enough to have theirs caught in time for the resection, but my oldest daughter may still suffer some degenerative arthritis, as she was 16 before she had her surgery - the older, the more chance of arthritis. My youngest is 13 - she has the best chance.

Anyway, to answer your question. If she hasn't had the surgery yet, she really should. The more time you put it off, the more damage that is done from the arthritis - at least that's what my Dr. told me - It would be a very good idea to confer with her Dr.

Anyway, nice to meet you, and I hope all goes well for your daughter!

Sincerely,

~Nan

sarmom10 · 07-22-2005, 08:44 AM

Nan, Could you please give me more information about your daughters' surgeries? Did the doctor attempt more conservative treatments first? My 10 year old is an Irish Dancer and a soccer player - very active kid. She began experiencing foot problems over a year ago and at that point we were told she had tendonitis. The problems came back this summer and after further investigation they decided that she has a tarsal coalition. We have been referred for a CT scan which is scheduled for next Monday. The doctor has suggested that my daughter wear a boot cast and rest her foot for 3 weeks. This is of course impossible to impose upon my daughter - she has been dancing with the boot on! I have read everything I can find on the internet and it appears that the conservative methods are only about 30% successful and that surgery appears to be the recommended course of treatment for patients in which the coalition is discovered at a young age. How did the doctor determine surgery was best for your daughters? Did you try conservative methods first? What was the recovery time from the surgery? Are your daughters still pain free? Any info you could give me would be appreciated!

gimpy123 · 09-18-2005, 04:04 PM

I just had surgery for subtalar fusion- its a talocalcaneal coalition- osseous (bony)....I have also had it since birth and its likely my children will have it too (when I have them)... My post op is not so bad- first of all I had the surgery on Tuesday and I am already off meds- there is little pain and I am taking advil. I have to be off my feet for two weeks (from date of surgery) and then I have to wear a cast for another month but I think it will be a less obtrusive cast and hopefully it will be easier to walk in crutches...god its hard work to get around the house right now....

I wonder why there is such a large array of post op results... I am tryng to find some one in a similar situation but Its kind of rare I guess... good luck with your daughter....

sarmom10 · 10-05-2005, 10:22 PM

Just an update on my daughter - she did have the re-section surgery the beginning of August. Within 3 weeks she was able to return to soccer and dance practice. Initially her foot was sore and a little stiff, but over time it has become increasingly more flexible and she feels little pain now. We are really glad that we did the surgery - it has made such a difference in her ability to participate in activities. We took her to see a foot surgeon and his only recommendation was the surgery - he did not recommend any of the other treatment options (rest, orthotics, PT, etc.) as he did not feel that the other methods had effective long term outcomes.