Abstract
Equinus deformity is a common cause of foot and ankle pathology. The purpose of our
study was to evaluate the role of the plantaris in equinus. Secondary aims were to
describe the role of the plantaris in intramuscular gastrocnemius recession and to
determine the prevalence of the plantaris in our patient population. We measured ankle
dorsiflexion during the steps of a Baumann-type intramuscular gastrocnemius recession.
Eighty-nine patients were enrolled in our study. Fourteen of 89 (15.7%) patients did
not have a plantaris. A mean dorsiflexion of 9 (interquartile range 6-12)° was obtained
after transection of the plantaris tendon and an additional mean 8 (interquartile
range 5-10)° was obtained after recession of the gastrocnemius aponeurosis. There
was a strong positive correlation (rs = 0.842) of dorsiflexion increase after plantaris
transection and dorsiflexion increase after gastrocnemius recession (p < .00). Linear regression showed that for every one-degree of dorsiflexion increase
with plantaris transection, there was a predicted dorsiflexion increase of 0.69° with
gastrocnemius recession. These results indicate that the plantaris is a component
of equinus deformity.
Level of Clinical Evidence
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 30, 2022
Footnotes
Financial Disclosure: None reported.
Conflict of Interest: None reported.
IRB: Community Health Network (IRB #2018-181).
Identification
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© 2022 by the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. All rights reserved.
