BACKGROUND: Morton's neuromas are abnormalities of the common digital nerve 
branch located between the lesser metatarsal heads. Historically, interdigital 
(Morton's) neuromas have been characterized as being most common in the third 
interspace and in females. The principal investigator observed Morton's neuromas 
commonly in the second and third interspaces in both sexes. To our knowledge, no 
literature exists to evaluate Morton's neuroma location with a focus on each sex 
independently. The present study evaluates Morton's neuroma interspace location 
and whether there is a variation by sex.
METHODS: In this retrospective study, 582 deidentified magnetic resonance 
imaging reports with a diagnosis code for Morton's neuroma were evaluated for 
patients scanned from January 2, 2015, through April 19, 2016. Incomplete 
records and those with radiologist findings inconsistent with Morton's neuroma 
were eliminated. For the remaining 379 patients, data were collected on sex, 
laterality, history of trauma, plantar plate tear, age, and interspace location. 
Special focus was given to second and third interspace Morton's neuromas. Data 
were evaluated using the Pearson χ2 and independent-samples Mann-Whitney U 
tests, with P < .05 indicating statistical significance.
RESULTS: No statistically significant distribution between sex and second and 
third interspace Morton's neuromas was noted. Right vs left foot, age, and 
history of trauma did not vary statistically significantly between sexes. There 
was a statistically significant difference between the presence of plantar plate 
tears between sexes. Male patients with Morton's neuromas were found to have a 
higher rate of plantar plate tears (P = .01).
CONCLUSIONS: This study found that there were no statistically significant 
differences between sexes and Morton's neuromas location, laterality, or age.