The many causes of ankle and foot pain include sprains, several types of fractures, arthritis, osteomyelitis (bone infection) and trauma to a tendon or ligament.

Researchers at Cambridge University Hospitals in England studied 91 patients being treated by an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon. The surgeon recorded his proposed treatment plan before and after the patients had an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The surgeon averaged 2.3 possible diagnoses per patient before the MRI, compared to 1.2 afterward.

Results of the imaging test altered the care plan for 35 percent of the patients. "This is itself is significant, but more significant is the fact that before an MRI was done, 65 of the 91 patients were scheduled to undergo surgery. After an MRI was done, nine of those patients were treated nonsurgically," researcher Dr. Philip W.P. Bearcroft stated in a news release.

The study was published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

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