Morton's neuroma differential diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sara Mohsin, M.D.[2]

Overview

Morton's neuroma must be differentiated from other causes of pain in the forefoot such as capsulitis, intermetatarsal bursitis, arthritis of intermetatarsal joints, calluses, stress fractures, and Freiberg's disease.

Differentiating Morton's Neuroma from other Diseases

• Morton's neuroma must be differentiated from other causes of pain in the forefoot because too often all forefoot pain is categorized as neuroma
• Since a neuroma is a soft tissue condition, an MRI should be helpful in diagnosis, however, often an MRI will be inconclusive for neuroma even though a neuroma exists
• Other conditions to consider are:
  • Capsulitis:
    • Inflammation of ligaments that surrounds two bones, at the level of the joint
    • In this case it would be the ligaments that attach the toe bone to the metatarsal bone
    • Inflammation from this condition will put pressure on an otherwise healthy nerve and give neuroma type symptoms
  • Intermetatarsal bursitis between the third and fourth metatarsal bones will also give neuroma type symptoms because it too puts pressure on the nerve
  • Arthritis of joints that join the toes to the foot
  • Calluses
  • Stress fractures
  • Freiberg's disease

References

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