Tumours of the foot and ankle

• Sarcomas are rare tumours and particularly rare in the foot and ankle region.
• Bone and soft tissue tumours in the foot and ankle region can present as a painless or painful mass and maybe as incidental finding.
• The complex anatomy of the foot and ankle region makes any surgery challenging, particularly limb salvage in cases of malignant tumours.
• Clinicians should follow the basic principles for investigations of any lump in this region and refer them on to a specialist unit if there is any doubt.
• All these lesions should be managed in a designated bone tumour unit for optimum outcome.

Sarcomas are rare tumours and particularly rarer in the foot and ankle region. The complex anatomy of the foot and ankle makes it unique and hence poses a challenge to the surgeon for limb salvage surgery. Other lesions found in the foot and ankle region are benign bone and soft tissue tumours, metastasis and infection.The purpose of this article is to discuss the relevance of the complex anatomy of the foot and ankle in relation to tumours, clinical features, their general management principles and further discussion about some of the more common bone and soft tissue lesions. Discussion of every single bone and soft tissue lesion in the foot and ankle region is beyond the scope of this article.