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photos by Sydney Foot and Ankle Surgeon Damien Lafferty

The images show how a foot can look at six weeks post-op.

This patient had chronic painful 1st and 2nd MTPJs. On clinical and radiographic imaging, it was shown she had hallux limitus with an abducted hallux and chronic overload to the 2nd MTPJ.

The image on the left is intra-operative and shows severe cartilage loss and large dorsal spurring.

She underwent a capsular interpositional arthroplasty and Akin to deal with the 1st MTPJ pathology, regain pain-free motion and align to hallux. I also carried out a minimally invasive (keyhole) shortening osteotomy to the 2nd metatarsal to decrease the force going through this joint.

The main reason for producing this post is to show the healing of the wounds and the lack of scarring producible with contemporary foot surgery.

The image on the right is the foot six weeks post-op, showing some normal residual oedema that will resolve and well-healed light wounds. The small red dot lateral to the 2nd MTPJ is the puncture wound where I carried out the keyhole 2nd metatarsal osteotomy and the almost invisible incision slightly medial to 1st MTPJ is where the incision for the capsular interpositional arthroplasty was carried out.

If you have any specific questions or would like to discuss similar cases, feel free to contact me.

Also read:
1st MTPJ cartilage damage
Motion following hallux limitus surgery
Dislocated 2nd MTPJ
Plantar fasciotomy post-op
Post-operative pes planus/flat feet/excess pronation

(This content is intended for healthcare professionals only)