Accessory Ossicles of the Foot and Ankle: Disorders and a Review of the Literature

Accessory ossicles of the foot and ankle are normal variants of bone development that usually remain asymptomatic. However, they may be involved in various disorders and become a source of pain such as in fractures, dislocations, degenerative changes, osteonecrosis, osteoarthritis, osteochondral lesions, avascular necrosis, and irritation or impingement of adjacent soft tissues. Hence, during the assessment of the situations above, knowledge about these little-known ossicles could be very important to reach the correct diagnosis. Recent studies in the literature have mostly focused on the most frequent 9-12 accessory bones. In this review, 24 types of accessory ossicle are described. These ossicles are accessory navicular bone, os peroneum, os trigonum, os intermetatarseum, os vesalianum. os subfibulare, os subtibiale, os calcaneus secundarius, os calcanei accessorium, os supratalare, os sustentaculi, os talotibiale, os tali accessorium, talus secundarius, os subcalcis, os cuboideum secundarium, os supranaviculare, os infranaviculare, os paracuneiforme, os intercuneiforme, os cuneometatarsale I tibiale, os cuneometatarsale plantare, os cuneo-I metatarsale-II dorsale, and os aponeurosis plantaris. The clinical importance of these bones should be known thoroughly to reduce unnecessary orthopedic consultations and misdiagnosis. This article describes the clinical importance of the accessory ossicles and their possible pathological conditions. Understanding the possible disorders of the accessory ossicles of the foot and ankle can provide a more accurate diagnostic process.