Conservative Management of Freiberg Disease with Shoe Modification and Insole: A Case Report with 2-Year Follow-up

• Published in: The Korean Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 45 - 49
• Main Authors: Suh, Jin Woo, Park, Chul-Hyun, Yoon, Kyung Jae, Lee, Yong-Taek
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한스포츠의학회 01.03.2023
• Subjects: 기타의약학
• ISSN: 1226-3729; 2288-6028
• DOI: 10.5763/kjsm.2023.41.1.45

Freiberg disease, known as a Freiberg infraction, is an uncommon disorder of the second metatarsal head of thefoot. Conservative treatment is recommended as initial management to relieve symptoms and minimize epiphysealdeformity. However, due to the rarity of this disorder, there have been few reports of long-term clinical and radiologicfollow-ups of Freiberg disease treated with conservative treatment. We report Freiberg disease treated withconservative management including modification of shoe and insole. A 24-year-old woman presented with rightforefoot pain. In plain radiography, the sunken appearance of the metatarsal head and periarticular spurring wasobserved. The articular cartilage was intact in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), corresponding to Smillie’s stage3 and Thompson’s type 2. We prescribed carbon fiber insert, customed semirigid insole with metatarsal dome androcker-bottom shoe to relieve pressure under the metatarsal heads. Freiberg disease maintained a well-tolerablecondition during 2-year follow-up period without further progression in MRI. KCI Citation Count: 0