Treatment of Tumours and Tumour-like Lesions in the Foot and Ankle - A Single Institution Analysis

We analyzed the results of tumours and tumour-like lesions arising in the foot and ankle and to establish the treatment guidelines. From 2006 to March 2013, 64 patients with 67 cases with primary tumours and tumour-like lesions arising in the foot and ankle were included. The benign lesions were 58 patients with 61 cases and the malignant tumours were 6 patients with 6 cases. Thirty patients were male and 34 patients were female. The mean age was 42.4 years old. The mean follow up period was 50.3 months. Fifty two lesions were located in the foot and 15 lesions were located in the ankle. Benign lesions were dominant, outnumbering malignant tumours by more than 10 to 1. The most predominant benign lesion was ganglion. Treatment options for benign lesions were excisional biopsy in 57 cases, curettage/grafting in 3 cases, and amputation in 1 case. Treatment outcomes were continuously disease free in 55 patients and local recurrence in 3 patients. Regarding malignant tumours, wide resection was in 1 case and amputation in 5 cases. Treatment outcomes were continuously disease free in 3 cases and died of disease in 3 cases. Thorough surgical excision is important for treatment of benign tumours and tumour-like lesions for preventing local recurrence. Limb salvage surgery is difficult for malignant tumours due to the peculiar anatomic complexity of these regions. Lager scale studies of the foot and ankle tumours and tumour-like lesions are needed to understand this rare subgroup of neoplasm.