Etiology of symptomatic recurrent interdigital neuromas.

Morton's neuroma is a common disease entity of the foot that is often treated with surgical resection. A complication of neuroma resection is recurrence of symptoms as a result of the formation of an amputation neuroma. The authors offer an anatomical and biomechanical explanation for the location of symptomatic amputation neuromas. The neuromas are found on the plantar surface proximal to the condyles of the metatarsal and medial to the interspace where the nerve is resected. The theory is based on intraoperative observations during surgery for recurrent neuromas and on cadaver dissections and offers a method based on this theory to reduce the number of recurrences.