Endoscopic plantar fasciotomy is a rewarding procedure for both patient and surgeon. A vast majority of the patients have complete or near-complete resolution of heel pain at 6 months postoperatively. The procedure, however, is not without side effects and complications. This retrospective statistical study describes the postoperative side effects and complications of endoscopic plantar fasciotomy from 1992 to 1994. The procedure has been modified in an attempt to reduce several of the more commonly reported side effects.

In the September 1996 issue of the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, the authors published a retrospective review of their experiences with and results of plantar fasciotomy from 1992 through 1994. Since then, patients who underwent endoscopic plantar fasciotomy from 1994 through 1997 have been reviewed by utilizing materials and methods identical to those used in the original study. This article provides an update of the results of endoscopic plantar fasciotomy and compares them with the results described in the 1996 study.

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Acute dysvascular limb in young adults is a rare entity. Diagnosis is often difficult because symptoms are not recognized as ischemic. The most common causes of this condition are premature atherosclerosis, thromboangiitis obliterans, microemboli, popliteal entrapment syndrome, collagen vascular disease, Takaysu's arteritis, and coagulopathy. A case study is presented to illustrate the disease process. A systematic approach to diagnosis, consisting of history and physical examination, palpation and auscultation of peripheral pulses at rest and following exercise, and noninvasive vascular examination at rest and following exercise, is recommended. Suggestion of an ischemic condition following noninvasive studies should be followed up with an arteriogram. The prognosis is dependent on the underlying etiology of the ischemia, early detection, and appropriate treatment.