Osteoarthritis of the talonavicular joint with pseudarthrosis of the navicular bone: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis of the talonavicular joint caused by inflammatory, degenerative, and post-traumatic arthritis has been commonly described, and isolated arthrodesis for talonavicular joint has usually been performed for such conditions. However, arthritis accompanied by pseudarthrosis of the navicular bone is an extremely rare case, and to the best of our knowledge, isolated arthrodesis for this situation has not been previously described in any published reports. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was a 39-year-old Japanese man. He had complained of pain in his left middle foot since a fall from his motorcycle six months previously. Radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans revealed pseudarthrosis of the navicular bone. MRI indicated mild arthritic change in the talonavicular joint and avascular necrosis of the navicular bone. We performed an isolated arthrodesis of the talonavicular joint with two 6.5 mm cancellous screws. One year after the operation, radiographical bone union had been obtained, and the patient reported no pain and complete satisfaction with the result. CONCLUSIONS: Isolated talonavicular arthrodesis is one of the effective procedures for the treatment of traumatic talonavicular arthritis with pseudarthrosis of the navicular bone both in providing pain relief and functional improvement.