Surgical Pearls
Operating room (OR) efficiency does not happen by accident. The ability to synchronize anesthesia, the OR staff and junior physicians can take the attending surgeon great time, effort and diplomacy within the hospital or surgery center. At the center of the efficient model is the surgery itself. The surgeon must have a procedural template to help maneuver and facilitate the ease of each given... Read More.
Hammertoe correction, one of the mainstays of podiatric surgery, is not as simple and straightforward as one would think. A surgeon may schedule a hammertoe surgery and assume an arthroplasty will correct the deformity. The surgeon is thinking this procedure is quick, easy to perform and he or she will be in and out of the operating room in no time.
Perhaps there is some... Read More.
The complexity of venous ulcerations leads to prolonged healing and doubt. Clinicians have traditionally treated venous wounds with debridement, multi-layer compression dressings and skin grafts.
Most of the literature focuses on various topical ointments, the use of allogenic grafting, compression therapies, etc. Unfortunately, there is little research on addressing the... Read More.
Fifteen to 25 percent of all injuries involving the human musculoskeletal system are reportedly sprains of the lateral ankle ligaments.1 The majority of patients with ankle sprains have excellent results following surgical treatment but 20 to 40 percent of patients with severe ankle sprains will have continued pain and instability.2
Primary repair typically consists of a... Read More.
As with other types of extremity surgery, podiatric surgery is very specialized and very diverse in the different types of procedures performed routinely by surgical specialists. Procedures can range from simple or complex osseous surgery to delicate peripheral nerve surgery — all of which require some type of hemostasis to be performed optimally.
It is universally accepted... Read More.
The original Akin osteotomy for the correction of hallux abducto valgus (HAV) included resection of the medial prominence of the first metatarsal head in combination with a medial based wedge osteotomy of the proximal phalanx of the hallux.1 Subsequently, there have been several modifications to the original procedure in order to address factors such as location, rotation, shortening,... Read More.
Subtalar arthroereisis has a long evolutionary history since its first conception in the 1940s. Since then, researchers have created and abandoned many different methods, materials and devices. The promise of the next great device to stabilize the subtalar joint complex without osteotomy or arthrodesis usually diminished with long-term usage.
The need to stabilize the talus on... Read More.
Surgical revision of a failed silicone prosthesis in the first metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ) is a difficult dilemma that many foot and ankle surgeons increasingly encounter. While advocates of silicone and similar implants have alluded to their preliminary benefits, there is a scarcity of literature on how to salvage these failures, especially when they occur in younger,... Read More.
There are numerous surgical procedures designed to correct the variations of bunion deformities. Often, the final step of the operation is to correct the valgus and abduction component of the great toe. This has been the subject of a popular and technically simple procedure that was introduced approximately 85 years ago.
In 1925, Akin proposed a hallux valgus... Read More.
The management of posterior heel pain can be a perplexing diagnostic and therapeutic problem. The differential diagnosis is extensive and even the skilled clinician can experience difficulty establishing an accurate diagnosis. Of the challenging conditions affecting the back of the heel, the retrocalcaneal exostosis may be the most onerous to treat.
Unlike... Read More.
Arthroscopy is an expedient tool in the management of intra-articular fractures of the ankle and post-fracture articular defects. It provides the surgeon the ability to anatomically reduce a fracture under direct visualization with minimal intervention. It also enables the surgeon to address any articular injury primarily.
The AO philosophy has remained... Read More.
Entrapment neuropathy of the tarsal tunnel and its terminal branches is a painful condition, which can be challenging to diagnose given the possibility of concurrent conditions with overlapping symptoms. Heel spur syndrome/plantar fasciitis and entrapment neuropathy often present at the same time. However, it is important to differentiate clearly between the two pathologies as... Read More.
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