Musculoskeletal Imaging Unit, Radiology Department, Hospital da Luz, Grupo Luz Saúde, Lisbon, Portugal.
Radiology Department, Hospital Particular da Madeira, Grupo HPA, Funchal, Portugal.
Semin Musculoskelet Radiol. 2023 Jun;27(3):337-350. doi: 10.1055/s-0043-1764388. Epub 2023 May 25.
Lesser (or central) metatarsalgia is defined as pain in the forefoot under or around the lesser metatarsals and their respective metatarsophalangeal joints. Two common causes of central metatarsalgia are Morton's neuroma (MN) and plantar plate (PP) injury. Because both clinical and imaging features overlap, establishing the correct differential diagnosis may be challenging. Imaging has a pivotal role in the detection and characterization of metatarsalgia. Different radiologic modalities are available to assess the common causes of forefoot pain, so the strengths and weakness of these imaging tools should be kept in mind. It is crucial to be aware of the pitfalls that can be encountered in daily clinical practice when dealing with these disorders. This review describes two main causes of lesser metatarsalgia, MN and PP injury, and their differential diagnoses.
小（或中）跖骨痛定义为前足下或周围小跖骨及其相应的跖趾关节疼痛。中跖骨痛的两个常见原因是莫顿神经瘤（MN）和跖板（PP）损伤。由于临床和影像学特征重叠，正确鉴别诊断可能具有挑战性。影像学在跖痛的检测和特征描述中起着关键作用。有多种放射学方法可用于评估前足疼痛的常见原因，因此应牢记这些影像学工具的优缺点。在处理这些疾病时，了解日常临床实践中可能遇到的陷阱至关重要。本文综述了小跖骨痛的两个主要原因，即 MN 和 PP 损伤及其鉴别诊断。
