Stress Fracture of the Tarsal Navicular Bone of the Foot A Report of Two Cases

• Published in: Orthopedics & Traumatology Vol. 47; no. 1; pp. 209 - 213
• Main Authors: Umeki, Yoshiomi, Taniguchi, Tatsuyuki, Teramoto, Tsukasa, Tashiro, Koichiro, Hamamura, Akinori, Adachi, Koichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: West-Japanese Society of Orthopedics & Traumatology 1998
• Subjects: osteosynthesis with bone grafting; sports activity; stress fracture
• ISSN: 0037-1033; 1349-4333
• DOI: 10.5035/nishiseisai.47.209

Stress fracyure of tarsal navicular bone is not very commonly seen in orthopaedic practice. Recently we experienced two such cases and describe the method of diagnosis and treatment. Two young high school female athletes had difficllty in running due to pain in the tarsal joints mainly over the navicular bone. At first visit, radiographs showed no abnormalities and accordingly they were treated conservatively. However, as the pain did not subside with conservative treatment, we carried out further investigations including tomography, bone scintillation and MRI. These investigations revealed fracture of the navicular bone. The casuse of this fracture may be due to repeated stress on the navicular bone from running. As both of patients intended to return to their sports as early as possible, osteosynthesis with bone grafting was carried out. At present both are university students and has returned to their athletics. From this study it may be suggested that, specal investigations are helpful for the diagnosis of the navicular stress fracture. Moreover, in young patients with sports activity, operative treatment can provide them with a faster return to their normal activities.