TY - JOUR
T1 - The distance between the sural nerve and ideal portal placements in lateral subtalar arthroscopy
T2 - A cadaveric study
AU - Tryfonidis, Marios
AU - Whitfield, Christopher G.
AU - Charalambous, Charalambos P.
AU - Baraza, Wal K.
AU - Blundell, Chris
AU - Sharp, Robert J.
PY - 2008/8
Y1 - 2008/8
N2 - Background: There have been limited studies assessing the relative safety of lateral portals for subtalar arthroscopy in terms of their distance from the sural nerve and its branches. The aim of this cadaveric study was to assess and compare the distance of lateral subtalar arthroscopy portal sites to the sural nerve and its branches. Materials and Methods: Twenty embalmed cadaveric lower limbs were dissected exposing the nerves and tendons and subtalar arthroscopy portals were replicated using pins. The anatomically important distances were measured with a digital caliper. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS for Windows 11.5 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL) using Friedman Tests and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests. Results: The median distance of the anterior and middle subtalar portals to the nearest nerve was 21.3 mm and 20.9 mm, respectively, and 11.4 mm for the posterior portal. There was no statistically significant difference between anterior and middle portals (p = 0.87) but there was statistically significant difference between anterior versus posterior and middle versus posterior portals (p = 0.001 in each comparison). Conclusion: The anterior and middle subtalar portals were both less likely to damage important structures than the posterior subtalar portal. Clinical Relevance: The results of this study can be of value to the surgeon when planning arthroscopic procedures to the subtalar joint from the lateral approach.
AB - Background: There have been limited studies assessing the relative safety of lateral portals for subtalar arthroscopy in terms of their distance from the sural nerve and its branches. The aim of this cadaveric study was to assess and compare the distance of lateral subtalar arthroscopy portal sites to the sural nerve and its branches. Materials and Methods: Twenty embalmed cadaveric lower limbs were dissected exposing the nerves and tendons and subtalar arthroscopy portals were replicated using pins. The anatomically important distances were measured with a digital caliper. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS for Windows 11.5 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL) using Friedman Tests and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests. Results: The median distance of the anterior and middle subtalar portals to the nearest nerve was 21.3 mm and 20.9 mm, respectively, and 11.4 mm for the posterior portal. There was no statistically significant difference between anterior and middle portals (p = 0.87) but there was statistically significant difference between anterior versus posterior and middle versus posterior portals (p = 0.001 in each comparison). Conclusion: The anterior and middle subtalar portals were both less likely to damage important structures than the posterior subtalar portal. Clinical Relevance: The results of this study can be of value to the surgeon when planning arthroscopic procedures to the subtalar joint from the lateral approach.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=48249151139&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3113/FAI.2008.0842
DO - 10.3113/FAI.2008.0842
M3 - Article
C2 - 18752785
AN - SCOPUS:48249151139
SN - 1071-1007
VL - 29
SP - 842
EP - 844
JO - Foot and Ankle International
JF - Foot and Ankle International
IS - 8
ER -