Higher incidence of accessory ossicles found in foot and ankle among male professional soccer players

"A higher incidence of the accessory navicular, os subfiblare, os supranaviculare, os trigonum, and os subtibiale was observed among male professional soccer players," the researchers wrote.

Accessory ossicles are caused by the failure of the fusion of secondary ossification centres and occur more likely due to heavy loading during the growth period or improper treatment after injury. Takuya Kinoshita, Osaka Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital, Osaka, Kita-ku, Japan, and colleagues aimed to investigate the incidence of foot and ankle accessory ossicles in male professional soccer players.

The study included male professional soccer players who underwent medical checkups at the hospital (Osaka Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital in Japan) between 2017 and 2023 as the soccer group. Medical checkups included radiographs of bilateral anteroposterior and oblique foot and bilateral anteroposterior and lateral ankle. The control group included male patients age-matched with the soccer group who visited the hospital undergoing anteroposterior and oblique foot or anteroposterior and lateral ankle radiography. Accessory ossicle incidence was investigated and compared between the soccer and control groups.

The researchers reported the following findings:

• 276 ankles and 276 feet, as well as 121 ankles and 79 feet, were included in the soccer and control groups, respectively.
• The incidence of accessory ossicles in the soccer and control groups was as follows: accessory navicular 35.9%, 24%, os peroneum 8.0%, 2.5%; os supranaviculare 7.6%, 1.3%; os infranaviculare 1.4%, 1.3%; os calcaneus secundarius 4.3%, 0%; os vesalianum 0%, 0%; os subfiblare 12.7%, 2.5%; os subtibiale 18.1%, 2.5%; and os trigonum 89%, 24%.

"Our findings show that male professional soccer players have a higher incidence of the accessory navicular, os supranaviculare, os subfiblare, os subtibiale, and os trigonum," the research team concluded.

Reference:

Kinoshita, T., Hashimoto, Y., Inui, K. et al. Male elite soccer players have a higher incidence of accessory ossicles in the foot and ankle. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-023-06074-4