Management of acute lesser toe pain

ABSTRACT

Patients with foot pain commonly present to their primary care physicians for their initial management and treatment. These patients and their respective foot or lesser toe pain can present the physician with a complex problem with a long differential list. Depending on the timing of the pain and underlying pathology, these differentials can be divided into acute and acute exacerbation of chronic conditions. This review categorizes the history, physical exam, radiological findings, conservative treatment, and surgical management for each major cause of lesser toe pain, whether acute or chronic. The acute conditions surrounding lesser toe pain in the adult population discussed are toe fractures, toe dislocations, and metatarsal head and neck fractures. The chronic pathologies surrounding lesser toe pain in the adult population evaluated in this review include metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuroma, Freiberg infraction, brachymetatarsia, bunionettes, and lesser toe disorders.

KEYWORDS:

• Lesser toe pain
• chronic lesser toe disorders
• acute lesser toe disorders
• conservative management
• surgical management
• primary care physician

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.