Arthritis Foot Surgery
A generative disease, arthritis has the ability to affect every joint in the human body. Physicians typically attempt conservative treatment when starting to treat arthritis. If conservative treatment does not show progress or decrease the patient’s pain, a physician may suggest surgical intervention.
Doctors can perform arthritis foot surgery on many different joints within the foot. These joints include the joints of toes, the joints in the middle of the foot, and the joints of the hind foot, such as the subtalar joint. Severity of joint damage along with the specific doctors training and determines exactly what type of arthritis foot surgery the provider performs.
Doctors prefer two main types of surgery to treat arthritis of the foot; Debridement and Fusion.
Debridement Arthritis Foot Surgery
In mild or moderate cases of arthritis, the treating physician may recommend debridement. Using debridement as the surgical method to treat arthritis in the foot remains dependent on the severity of the arthritis along with the location of the arthritis within the foot. When debriding the joint, the doctor cleans out any damaged cartilage, ligaments, or bone that interfere with the natural movement of the joint. Overtime, arthritis causes the pieces of bone, cartilage, and ligament to break off within the joint. When pieces of different tissues break off within the joint, the friction creates bone spurs or other rough fragments. The rough fragments and bone spurs lead to decreased or painful motion for the patient.
Fusion Arthritis Foot Surgery
The other method that surgeons use to treat arthritis in the foot, joint fusion fuses two or more adjacent bones together. If the patient has severe arthritis, a foot and ankle specialist considers joint fusion. During fusion, a foot and ankle surgeon fuses two or more bones together within the toe or foot. The surgeon fuses the bones together using metal screws or metal
plates. When the bones heal the bones grow together to make one fused bone. The created bone can no longer move, and in turn the patient no longer experiences the painful movement. Following most foot procedures, the treating physician may prescribe the patient a physical therapy regimine to ensure proper strengthening of the affected tissues.
To view a list of all insurances that AOA Orthopedic Specialists accept, click HERE. To schedule an appointment online, click HERE.
EXPERIENCING FOOT OR ANKLE PAIN? CALL 817-375-5200 TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH AN AOA ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALIST TODAY!
