Can bunion surgery be avoided by any treatment?
We are going to refer to what we know as conservative treatment of hallux valgus or bunion. This basically consists of the use of orthopedic insoles because the unloading that we are going to place under the plantar vault will discreetly lift the big toe joint and this will unload it in such a way that the pain will be relieved. Orthopodological treatments can also be performed by a podiatrist that consist of applying silicones to relieve the most painful areas.
What is percutaneous foot surgery?
Percutaneous foot surgery is a minimally invasive surgery used to treat deformities, basically, of the front part of the foot. Through small incisions of less than half a centimeter we will be able to introduce a series of special instruments -designed for this surgery- and with these we will perform all the necessary maneuvers to correct the deformities of the forefoot. These corrections consist basically in the resection of the exostoses, which are these lumps that occur for example in the bunion, we will be able to correct the position of the big toe in hallux valgus, through what we know as osteotomies, which consist in surgically cutting a bone, and we will even be able to introduce screws through these small incisions in the skin in order to fix a bone in the position we want. We can also perform procedures on tendons, hammertoes and tailor’s bunion.
What type of anesthesia will be used?
Our preferred anesthesia for treating foot deformities with percutaneous surgery is local anesthesia, always administered by an anesthesiologist. This local anesthesia will be introduced into the ankle, which will put the entire foot to sleep. To be able to do this without the patient having any discomfort, drugs known as anxiolytics are administered by means of an intravenous injection, so that the patient does not suffer any type of stress and is not nervous during the process. The local anesthetic administered in this way has a double advantage, first of all there is no need to administer the injection in the spine, the famous and feared epidural anesthesia, and at the same time as we are going to administer drugs of long duration, the foot will be asleep or without pain for at least 24 hours, which is a great advantage for the patient.
What is the recovery time after surgery?
Basically it is a process that lasts 1 month. In the post-operative period, immediately, the patient is fitted with orthopedic footwear, an adapted shoe with Velcro straps, and is allowed to ambulate. Normally, during the first week the patient rests for a certain period of time, and from the second week onwards, the patient can go out on the street, he/she can walk around calmly, but during this month the post-surgical shoe is necessary. After this month we will allow the patient to wear comfortable shoes, which can be sports shoes or sandals, and with this he/she can walk normally and even return to work. We should always expect some swelling, which will progressively decrease.