Postoperative MR imaging of the foot and ankle: tendon repair, ligament repair, and Morton's neuroma resection.

This review article describes the postoperative magnetic resonance (MR) findings relating to surgery after tendon repair, ligament repair, and Morton's neuroma resection. The normal postoperative tendon is commonly thickened, showing signal changes that are most pronounced 3 to 6 months after surgery. Two years after tendon suture, the signal intensity should be low on T2-weighted images. The focus of the postoperative MR imaging after ankle repair is to detect the normal condition after the various surgical procedures (e.g., Brostrom, Watson-Jones, Evans, or Chrisman-Snook). The repaired ligament has to be visible, low signal intense on T2-weighted MR images, and the shape should be homogeneous. A high rate (26%) of so-called Morton's neuroma recurrences is seen in asymptomatic individuals after Morton's neuroma resection. Postoperatively, intermetatarsal bursitis MR abnormalities are more commonly encountered in symptomatic intermetatarsal spaces than in asymptomatic intermetatarsal spaces.