The initial treatment that is usually recommended for symptomatic talocalcaneal coalition is nonoperative. But this time the operative treatment has been applied for those patients who fail to respond to the nonoperative treatment. Recently we treated five such cases by excision of the coalition because nonoperative treatment was not successful. Three cases were talocalcaneal coalition and two cases were calcaneonavicular coalition. The age of the patients at the time of surgery ranged from nine years to fortysix years. After the operation, we didn't use immobilization in a cast but started active exercises. Thus, operative treatment is a viable option if nonoperative treatment is unsuccessful; excision treatment, in addition to starting active exercise as soon as possible after the operation, is effective for tarsal coalition.
We must suspect tarsal coalition for patients with limitation in subtalar joint and pain in the area of the coalition.
We diagnose talocalcaneal coalition with radiography, tomoraphy, computed tomography and arthrography. Calcaneonavicular coalition is best seen on an oblique radiography.
