Subtalar joint injection (CT-guided)

Case contributed by Dai Roberts
Diagnosis not applicable

Presentation

End stage post traumatic subtalar joint arthropathy. For CT-guided injection.

Patient Data

Age: 35 years
Gender: Male

Planning CT with a CT biopsy grid in place.  Evidence of hardware within the calcaneum which causes beam hardening artefact. Severe posterior subtalar joint arthropathy. 

A 27G needle cannulates the posterior subtalar joint, with subsequent images confirming an intra-articular needle position and iodinated contrast spreading throughout it.

Case Discussion

End stage arthritis in the posterior subtalar joint can mean severe joint space loss, making guided intervention difficult.  Fluoroscopy can be used but can very challenging in such cases and CT offers further identification of the joint space. 

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