Predictive factors of effective tibial nerve release in tarsal tunnel syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Factors that may affect surgical decompression results in tarsal tunnel syndrome are not known. METHODS: A retrospective single-center study included patients who had undergone surgical tibial nerve release. The effectiveness of decompression was evaluated according to whether the patient would or would not be willing to undergo another surgical procedure in similar preoperative circumstances. RESULTS: The patients stated for 43 feet (51%) that they would agree to a further procedure in similar circumstances. Six feet with space-occupying lesions on imaging had improved results, but neurolysis failed in 9 feet with bone-nerve contact. Neurolysis was significantly less effective when marked hindfoot valgus (p = 0.034), varus (p = 0.014), or fasciitis (p = 0.019) were present. CONCLUSIONS: If imaging reveals a compressive space-occupying lesion, surgery has a good prognosis. In feet with static hindfoot disorders or plantar fasciitis, conservative treatment must be optimized. Bone-nerve contact should systematically be sought.

Influence of inflammatory and non-inflammatory rheumatic disorders on the clinical and biological profile of type-2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To study the profile of type-2 diabetes (T2D) in patients with RA or OA. METHODS: This observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study included, over a 24-month period, consecutive patients with adult-onset diabetes and RA or OA. We collected demographics, disease activity and severity indices, current treatments for RA and diabetes, history and complications of diabetes. A systematic blood test was performed, assessing inflammatory, immunological and metabolic parameters. The homoeostasis model assessment (HOMA)2-S was used to assess insulin resistance. RESULTS: We included 167 patients with T2D, 118 with RA and 49 with OA. RA and OA patients had severe T2D with suboptimal metabolic control and a biological profile of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance was significantly higher in RA than in OA patients after stratification on age, BMI and CS use [HOMA2-S: 63.5 (35.6) vs 98.4 (69.2), P < 0.001]. HOMA2-S was independently associated with DAS28 [odds ratio (OR): 4.46, 95% CI: 1.17, 17.08]. T2D metabolic control was not related to disease activity and functional impairment, but HbA1c levels were independently associated with bone erosions (OR: 4.43, 95% CI: 1.18, 16.61). Treatment with low-dose CSs was not associated with decreased insulin sensitivity or increased HbA1c levels. Treatment with TNF-α inhibitors was associated with increased insulin sensitivity compared with patients not receiving biologics [101.3 (58.71) vs 60.0 (32.5), P = 0.001]. CONCLUSION: RA patients display severe T2D with inflammation-associated insulin resistance. These findings may have therapeutic implications, with the potential targeting of insulin resistance through the treatment of joint and systemic inflammation.

Cohort study of lumbar percutaneous chemonucleolysis using ethanol gel in sciatica refractory to conservative treatment.

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of percutaneous chemonucleolysis using ethanol gel (PCEG) in alleviating radicular pain due to disc herniation after failure of conservative treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After failure of conservative treatment, PCEG was performed under fluoroscopic guidance in 42 patients with sciatica >4/10 on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for at least 6 weeks and consistent disc herniation on MRI or CT <3 months. The VAS pain score was determined at baseline, then after 1 and 3 months. We assessed the influence of patient-related factors (age, gender, pain duration) and disc herniation-related factors (level, migration pattern, disc herniation-related spinal stenosis) on outcome of PCEG. RESULTS: Mean pain duration was 6.7 months. Pain intensity decreased by 44% and 62.6% after 1 and 3 months, respectively, versus baseline (P = 0.007). A mild improvement was noted by the rheumatologist in 30/42 (71.4%) and 36/42 (85.7%) patients after 1 and 3 months, respectively, and in 31/42 (73.8%) and 33/42 (78.6%) patients by self-evaluation. Patients who failed PCEG were significantly older (49.8 vs. 37.3 years, P = 0.03). None of the other variables studied were significantly associated with pain relief. CONCLUSION: PCEG may significantly improve disc-related radicular pain refractory to conservative treatment. KEY POINTS: • Percutaneous chemonucleolysis using ethanol gel (PCEG) is feasible on an outpatient basis. • PCEG improves disc-related radicular pain refractory to conservative treatment. • PCEG is feasible on an outpatient basis. • Failure of PCEG does not interfere with subsequent spinal surgery.

[Diagnostic procedures for painful foot]. / Orientation diagnostique face à une douleur du pied.

The diagnostic process in case of painful foot must always begin with a first clinical phase that is the most important. The history, conditions of happening and the clinical examination are essentials to orient appropriately the secondary examinations, if necessary, and establish a proper diagnosis. After the taking of the history, the clinical examination of the foot, bilateral and comparative, should begin with an evaluation of the entire musculoskeletal system for systemic and general conditions which can affect the foot and ankle. The function and structure of the foot may be evaluated using observation, palpation and manipulation of the different joints. The foot, and the patient's shoes, should be evaluated during unloaded and loaded conditions with gait observation. The location of the pain must be accurately precised: hindfoot pain (inferior, posterior, lateral, medial, anterior), middle foot pain or forefoot pain (medial with the first ray pathology or lateral). This first clinical assesment, with a basic radiography and sometimes an ultrasosonography study are able to diagnose the most frequent pathologies. Other additional examinations could be more rarely neccessary and must always be oriented by the knowledge of the foot pathology and the first obligatory clinical evaluation.

[Forefoot pain]. / Douleurs de l'avant-pied.

Forefoot chronic pain is a frequent problem in daily clinical practice. Mechanical pathology of the forefoot, usually called static metatarsalgia, represents the most frequent reason for consultation in pathology of the foot. The cause is a functionnal disorder or anatomic derangement of the forefoot architecture. Metatarsalgia can originate from a wide range of affections. Etiologies of chronic pain are described from medial to lateral with first ray pathologies (hallux valgus, hallux rigidus and sesamoid pathology) and first ray insufficiency, pathologies of the second, third and fourth ray and intermetatarsal spaces (second ray syndrome, Freiberg's disease, Morton neuroma, stress or bone insufficiency metatarsal fractures, intermetatarsal bursitis) and fifth ray pathology (lateral bursitis, quintus varus). Sometimes forefoot pain could also be caused by chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis) with a risk of structural metatarsophalangeal joints alteration. The pathology of the toes can, more rarely, explain a forefoot pain. So, several pathologic conditions can produce forefoot pain and the diagnostic approach must always be based on the anamnesis and clinical examination. In a second time if the cause is difficult to establish based solely on clinical findings, radiography and ultrasonography are today the most usefull auxiliary investigations.

[Hindfoot pain]. / Douleurs de l'arrière-pied.

The hindfoot is the part of the foot which is proximal to the midtarsal joint. The obvious causes of pain are not considered (post-traumatic etiologies, sprains and fractures but also cutaneous lesions). The main etiologies on the subject are successively exposed by following the localization of the pain. Diffuse pains (ankle arthritis tarsal osteoarthritis, algodystrophy, calcaneo-navicular synostosis but also bone diseases like stress fractures, Paget disease or tumors). Plantar talalgia (Sever's disease, plantar fasciitis and entrapment neuropathies such as (esions of the medial calcaneal nerve, of the first branch of the plantar lateral nerve, medial plantar nerve and lateral plantar nerve). Posterior pains: calcaneal tendinopathy including peritendinitis, tendinosis, retro-calcaneal bursitis and pathology of the postero-lateral talar tuberosity. Medial pains: tendinopathies of the posterior tibial tendon and tendinopathy of the flexor hallucis longus tendon and tarsal tunnel syndrome. Lateral pains: fibularis tendinopathies including split lesions of the fibularis brevis tendon, displacement of the fibularis iongus tendon, sinus tarsi syndrome and finally thickenings of capsules and ligaments and ossifications localized under the tibial malleoli. Anterior pains: antero-inferior tibio-fibular ligament, anterior tibial tendinopathy and anterior impingment syndrome.

Diagnosis of vertebral fractures by vertebral fracture assessment.

Vertebral fractures are independent risk factors for both vertebral and peripheral fractures and only one-third of these fractures come to clinical attention. Vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) is a radiographic method using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to assess vertebral deformities during bone density measurement. We performed VFA of the spine from T4 to L5 on a Delphi W device (Hologic, Bedford, MA) in 136 postmenopausal patients (69+/-10 yr). These patients also had X-rays of the thoracic and lumbar spine. VFA was independently compared with X-rays by two rheumatologists, for the diagnosis of vertebral fractures at both the patient and vertebral levels. Using X-rays, 61 patients (45%) had at least one vertebral fracture. The percentage of unreadable vertebrae was 1% and 12.4% on X-rays and VFA, respectively (p<0.0001). At the patient level, VFA allowed to diagnose if the patient had no fracture or had at least one fracture in 74% of patients. In 11.2% of cases, VFA misclassified the patients. At the vertebral level, diagnostic efficacy of VFA as compared with X-rays was 97%. Concordance between both observers was good (kappa-score=0.69). We designed an algorithm for decision of performing X-rays in postmenopausal women: Using results of VFA would avoid X-rays in 32% of our patients. VFA is a reliable technique with low radiation, and is easily and rapidly applicable during bone density measurement by DXA, which could improve management of osteoporotic patients.

Sensory neuropathy revealing necrotizing vasculitis during infliximab therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.

We describe 2 patients with severe erosive rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid vasculitis, respectively, in whom infliximab therapy was associated with peripheral neuropathy due to necrotizing vasculitis in one patient and to progression of preexisting mononeuritis multiplex in the other.

[Right diverticular colitis revealing an Ehlers-Danlos syndrome]. / Colite diverticulaire droite révélatrice d'un syndrome d'Ehlers-Danlos.

INTRODUCTION: Colic diverticulosis rarely occurs in the young and, in such cases, therefore requires search for a predisposing affection. OBSERVATION: A 25 year-old woman was hospitalised for abdominal pain and fever predominating in the right iliac fossa and leading to the diagnosis of right diverticular colitis. The clinical examination revealed features suggestive of an Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. DISCUSSION: The Ehlers-Danlos syndrome combines cutaneous sensitivity and articular hypermobility related to abnormality in the supporting connective tissue. Colic diverticulosis is found among the complications. Diverticular colitis occurring in a young adult should lead to the search for an originating disease of the connective tissue.