Plantar fibromatosis: a review of primary and recurrent surgical treatment.

Plantar fibromatosis can be quite disabling to the patient, as well as a technical challenge to the surgeon. Patients who undergo previous local excisions and in whom aggressive recurrences develop are difficult to manage successfully. We present a consecutive series of five primary procedures on patients with painful plantar fibroma and seven revision operations on patients with recurrent plantar fibroma. The average follow-up was 47 months (range, 22-66 months) in the primary group and 40 months (range, 21-78 months) in the revision group. The overall results were satisfactory in four of the five primary operations, with only one recurrence. In the revision group, five of seven results were satisfactory with no recurrences. The major complication that led to unsatisfactory results was the development of a postoperative neuroma. In this article, we outline our present surgical techniques of wide primary excision and a staged revision procedure with delayed split-thickness skin graft closure. These techniques can be used successfully to manage this disabling, progressive disease.