A Rare Cause of Ankle Pain – Chondrosarcoma of the Talus: A Case Report and Literature Review

INTRODUCTION: Chondrosarcoma of the talus is one of the rare causes of ankle pain. Often this pain is neglected by the patients. Hence, the presentation is late. A rare occurrence, lack of clinical familiarity, and resemblance to enchondroma make the diagnosis of chondrosarcoma difficult. CASE REPORT: We present a case of chondrosarcoma of talus in a 42-year-old female, which is an uncommon site of occurrence. In the presence of non-classical radiologic and histologic findings, the patient was treated with below-knee amputation. At present, the patient is disease-free and walking with a prosthesis. CONCLUSION: Talus is an infrequent site for chondrosarcoma. When affected, it presents as vague ankle pain. A patient can be underdiagnosed as there are no clear radiological and histological guidelines to differentiate between benign and low-grade cartilaginous tumors such as enchondroma and low-grade chondrosarcoma. Histologically proven benign lesions must be followed for a long time in suspicion of malignancy. The treatment of chondrosarcoma of the talus can vary from local wide excision to below-knee amputation, depending on the grade of malignancy.