© 1981 British Society for Rheumatology
research-article |
PREVALENCE OF THE TARSAL TUNNEL SYNDROME IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Audie L. Murphy V.A. Hospital San Antonia, Texas USA
Correspondence to:
Requests for reprints to Dr. Jen Yu, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78284
Forty-eight patients with definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were studied for the presence of tarsal tunnel syndrome (ITS). Nerve conduction velocities and distal latencies were determined in a constant temperature room and the findings compared with a group of 35 normal, age-matched subjects. After excluding four patients with peripheral neuropathy, a definite delay in the distal motor latency of the tibial nerve was documented in 11 subjects (25%). Two of the 11 had foot symptoms suggestive of ITS. These 11 patients with prolonged distal motor latencies did not otherwise differ from R A patients without TTS in terms of disease duration or severity, treatment, or the presence of foot deformity. Thus, compressive neuropathy of the branches of the posterior tibial nerve is a relatively frequent finding in patients with definite or classical RA.