Management of dancers with symptomatic accessory navicular: 2 case reports.

Methods: Case report.

Background: Symptomatic accessory navicular can be a source of pain and disability. The treatment considerations for accessory navicular in dancers may differ due to increased demands on the foot, the repetitive nature of the movements, and the specific footwear required. The purpose of this report is to describe the management (1 conservative and 1 postoperative) of 2 adolescent dancers with symptomatic accessory navicular.

Methods: Case 1 was an 11-year-old female who underwent surgical excision of a symptomatic accessory navicular. Case 2 was a 15-year-old female who, following a traumatic injury that caused pain judged to be related to her accessory navicular, was managed nonsurgically. Treatment included pain management, range-of-motion exercises, trunk and lower extremity strengthening, balance and proprioception training, orthoses, crosstraining, and a guided return-to-dance progression.

Results: Both patients had improved pain, dance technique, strength, and patient-reported outcome scores that allowed a full return to dance.

Conclusions: The 2 dancers presented here had foot pain believed to be related to a symptomatic accessory navicular. In both cases, treatment targeted specific impairments to improve function and disability. The guided progression of activities was intended to facilitate a return to dance that protected healing tissues and prevented a recurrence of symptoms. Clinicians should be aware of the effect of a symptomatic accessory navicular in the young dancer and potentially effective nonsurgical treatment options for this condition.