Endoscopic surgery for young athletes with symptomatic unicameral XXXX of the calcaneus.

@entity1 @entity174 @entity78 @entity2001 @entity158
BACKGROUND: Open curettage with bone graft has been the traditional surgical treatment for symptomatic unicameral calcaneal @entity2001 . Endoscopic procedures have recently provided less invasive techniques with shorter postoperative morbidity. HYPOTHESIS: The authors' endoscopic procedure is effective for young athletes with symptomatic calcaneal @entity2001 . STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: Of 16 young athletes with symptomatic calcaneal @entity2001 , 13 underwent endoscopic curettage and percutaneous injection of bone substitute under the new method. Three @entity1 were excluded because of short-term follow-up, less than 24 months. For the remaining 10 @entity1 , with a mean preoperative 3-dimensional size of 23   31   35 mm as calculated by computed tomography, clinical evaluation was made with the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot Scale just before surgery and at the most recent follow-up (mean, 36.2 months; range, 24-51 months), and radiologic assessment was performed at the most recent follow-up, to discover any recurrence or pathologic @entity174 . Furthermore, the 10 @entity1 -all of whom returned to sports activities-were asked how long it took to return to initial sports activity level after surgery. RESULTS: Mean ankle-hindfoot scale score improved from preoperative 78.7    4.7 points (range, 74-87) to postoperative 98.0    4.2 points (range, 90-100) (P < .001). @entity158 and functional scores significantly improved after surgery (P < .01 and P < .05, respectively). Radiologic assessment at most recent follow-up revealed no recurrence or pathologic @entity174 , with retention of injected @entity78 cement in all cases. All @entity1 could return to their initial levels of sports activities within 8 weeks after surgery (mean period, 7.1 weeks; range, 4-8 weeks), which was quite early as compared with past reports. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic curettage and injection of bone substitute appears to be an excellent option for young athletes with symptomatic calcaneal @entity2001 for early return to sports activities, because it has the possibility to minimize the risk of postoperative pathologic @entity174 and local recurrence after early return to initial level of sports activities.
