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The player has been affected by a rare syndrome for many years: Muller-Weiss syndrome. What is this pathology? We take stock with Dr. Cyrille Cazeau, orthopedic surgeon.
Tennis champion Rafael Nadal has suffered for several years from a rare syndrome in his left foot, known as Muller-Weiss syndrome. This rare disease is serious because it causes a deformation of the navicular bone of the foot and eventually generates severe pain.
She would have risk factors for flat feet, obesity or an episode of malnutrition, such as anorexia for example, among others.
What is Muller-Weiss syndrome?
“This pathology is caused by a bone that is necrosing, here the navicular bone, which is located in the foot“explains Dr. Cazeau first. “The bone deforms, which leads to premature degeneration of the joints with which it is in contact, because due to the deformation, the joint fit is no longer done correctly and this generates pain”.
This loss of joint harmony mainly affects the navicular bone and the neighboring bone, which is called the talus. “The cause is a small artery which gets blocked and which triggers this poor vascularization which precedes necrosis, ie the death of the bone. This phenomenon is probably of genetic origin, we do not know very well” further advances the specialist.
Irregular and very strong pains
The disease initially progresses silently. “The pains generally occur later and are triggered with the deformation of the bone, but are irregular” says the orthopedic surgeon again. Swelling may also occur.
Regarding the treatments, they consist of masking the pain with medication or infiltration, which is the direct injection of an anti-inflammatory into the injured joint. Another possibility: reduce the mechanical stresses on the foot, by making custom orthopedic insoles. Rest is also advised.
Consult a podiatrist online
Surgery as a last resort
Before considering surgery in a patient, it is important to make sure that it is indeed this syndrome. As Dr. Cazeau explains, this syndrome “can be mistaken for a stress fracture of the navicular bone, due to repeated stress. You have to think about it because Muller-Weiss syndrome remains rare“.
If a patient has to have surgery, the impact will be on the adaptability of his foot to the ground: “When this syndrome is operated on, the navicular bone must be blocked with that of the talus. The problem is that they work with another binomial, the cuboid and calcaneus bones, the heel bone. If we choose to operate, we must intervene on the “two pairs or nothing“explains the specialist again.
He adds that this operation is subsequently incompatible with the practice of high-level sport. “It takes about three months to recover, with physio. For a sportsman like Nadal, whether or not to undergo this operation is a real question that he must think about, because it involves his professional future.“.