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Broken Foot

Foot Disaster: Diagnosing a Foot Injury

Medical Author: Benjamin C. Wedro, MD, FAAEM
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

The Lisfranc Fracture In the middle of the pile, one lineman steps on another's foot; a common occurrence, no big deal. But add a little torque or twist and one of the joints in the mid foot can tear. Add a little more and disaster occurs. Indianapolis Colt defensive end, Dwight Freeney hurt his foot (on Monday, November 11, 2007) and the team signed his replacement within 24 hours. It seemed like more than just a sprain; the outcome was a Lisfranc fracture of his left foot. As a result of his injury, Mr. Freeney has been placed on the injured reserve list and is out for the season.

When Napoleon led his army to disaster in the Russian winter, many of his soldiers suffered from frostbite and developed gangrene of the toes and feet. Dr. Lisfranc figured out the anatomy of the foot and found that cutting through joint spaces made amputation easier. His legacy is that fractures, dislocations, and sprains that affect the junction between the upper and lower foot bones bear his name.

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Broken Foot Overview

Broken bones (also called fractures) in the foot are very common. Our feet are very vulnerable to slipping and twisting. Our feet and toes lead us around when we walk and are on the receiving end of dropped objects. About one out of every 10 broken bones occurs in the foot.

The Anatomy of the Foot

The human foot has 26 bones.
Commonly, doctors divide the foot into three parts: the hindfoot, the midfoot, and the forefoot.
- There are two bones in the hindfoot. These are the talus, which is where the foot attaches to the leg, and the calcaneus, which forms the heel.
- Five smaller bones called the navicular, cuboid, and three cuneiform bones make up the midfoot.
- The long part of the foot is called the forefoot and contains 19 bones. There is a metatarsal for each of the five toes; the big toe is made up of two phalanges, and the other toes each have three phalanges.
- In addition, the foot sometimes has small pebble-like bones called sesamoid bones. These bones do not perform any necessary function and are often called accessory bones.