Assessment of the frequency Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic disease characterized by chronic inflammation involving primarly joints. The foot involvement is frequently observed during early RA progress. Foot involvement incidence is increased if the course of disease progress is increased. Entrapment neuropathy in RA is common as an extra-articular involvement. The aim of this study was to assessment Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome (TTS) frequency of RA patients.Twenty healthy control group with no pain and thirty patients who met ACR criteria for the classification of RA include in to the study. All patients and control group examined for socio-demographic data and neurological findings. Tinel?s sign was assessed to provoke TTS symptoms. Disease activity was assessed using visual analogue scale of pain (VAS), DAS28, ESR, CRP; quality of life and disability was assessed using Health Assessment Questionnaire, Short form-36 (SF-36), foot function index (FFI) and VAS (0-100 mm). In addition foot pain related to position was questioned using VAS. 100m gait times was calculated for patients and control groups and anteroposterior and lateral weight-bearing radiographs of the foot were taken and these were scored by Larsen and Sharp/van der Heijde methods.Ten (33.33%) patients with RA had bilateral TTS. There was no relation of TTS with the duration of RA, seropositivity, romatoid nodül, joint deformities, glucocorticoid intake and 28-joint disease activity score. Primarly foot and ankle joint involving in RA was positive correlated with TTS (p<0,005). Tinel?s sign which patients had TTS was positively (45%). 100m gait times between our RA patients and control group was found significantly different.TTS in RA patients is common. TTS in the patients who primarily foot involvement is also more common. We, therefore, suggest that the physicians consider entrapment neuropathies in RA patients and if need be the diagnosis is supported by electrophysiological parameters.Key words: Rheumatoid arthritis, Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, electrophysiological studies, Foot Function Index