Remission of severe restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements in sleep after bilateral excision of multiple foot neuromas: a case report

Restless legs syndrome is a sensorimotor neurological disorder characterized by an urge to move the legs in response to uncomfortable leg sensations. While asleep, 70 to 90 percent of patients with restless legs syndrome have periodic limb movements in sleep. Frequent periodic limb movements in sleep and related brain arousals as documented by polysomnography are associated with poorer quality of sleep and daytime fatigue. Restless legs syndrome in middle age is sometimes associated with neuropathic foot dysesthesias. The causes of restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements in sleep are unknown, but the sensorimotor symptoms are hypothesized to originate in the central nervous system. We have previously determined that bilateral forefoot digital nerve impingement masses (neuromas) may be a cause of both neuropathic foot dysesthesias and the leg restlessness of restless legs syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, this case is the first report of bilateral foot neuromas as a cause of periodic limb movements in sleep.

A 42-year-old Caucasian woman with severe restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements in sleep and bilateral neuropathic foot dysesthesias was diagnosed as having neuromas in the second, third, and fourth metatarsal head interspaces of both feet. The third interspace neuromas represented regrowth (or 'stump') neuromas that had developed since bilateral third interspace neuroma excision five years earlier. Because intensive conservative treatments including repeated neuroma injections and various restless legs syndrome medications had failed, radical surgery was recommended. All six neuromas were excised. Leg restlessness, foot dysesthesias and subjective sleep quality improved immediately. Assessment after 18 days showed an 84 to 100 percent reduction of visual analog scale scores for specific dysesthesias and marked reductions of pre-operative scores of the Pittsburgh sleep quality index, fatigue severity scale, and the international restless legs syndrome rating scale (36 to 4). Polysomnography six weeks post-operatively showed improved sleep efficiency, a marked increase in rapid eye movement sleep, and marked reductions in hourly rates of both periodic limb movements in sleep with arousal (135.3 to 3.3) and spontaneous arousals (17.3 to 0).

The immediate and near complete remission of symptoms, the histopathology of the excised tissues, and the marked improvement in polysomnographic parameters documented six weeks after surgery together indicate that this patient's severe restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements in sleep was of peripheral nerve (foot neuroma) origin. Further study of foot neuromas as a source of periodic limb movements in sleep and as a cause of sleep dysfunction in patients with or without concomitant restless legs syndrome, is warranted.