Imaging of central metatarsalgia

Metatarsalgia refers to a variety of disorders presenting with forefoot pain ranging from traumatic lesions (acute or chronic repetitive), inflammatory and infective disorders, non-neoplastic soft tissue lesions, and benign tumours to malignant lesions.

Patients often present with symptoms of localised pain in the forefoot that worsens on weight bearing (walking or running), which can be sharp or dull and can be perceived as a lump felt inside or underneath the foot and described as walking on a marble or pebbles. Such patients are labelled as having metatarsalgia and further evaluated with ultrasound or MRI to establish a diagnosis. We describe imaging features of commonly occurring conditions that produce central metatarsalgia.

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