Brachymetatarsia Treatments

Dr. Lee specializes in the RestorativeFoot Surgery^TM One-stage Lengthening procedure of the short metatarsal. Gradual lengthening is performed during the operative period. When the patient completes the 2-3 hour surgery the toe is at the full corrected length.

The advantages to his patients are:

No need to adjust the device. (Greatest potential for complications)
Reduced risk of infection.
Reduced risk of dislocation or abnormal position of the metatarsal bone.
Better cosmetic incision, because the external fixator can leave stretch marks and large circles.
No need for a bone graft from the hip bone. A safe, but often painful procedure.

The External Fixation Technique Disadvantage

Traditional brachymetatarsia surgery performed by most surgeons is done in a multiple-stage fashion where they use an external fixation device to gradually lengthen the bone over several weeks or months (depending on the amount of correction). An external fixation device is a scaffolding which is placed on the outside of the foot. The patient adjusts the length of the device to gradually stretch the bone over weeks to the desired length. Typical healing times range from 4-7 months in a cast with the external fixator protruding from the foot. (See Figure 1).

Figure 1

Because the fixation is outside the body there are a significant number of disadvantages to this technique:

Higher risk of infection due to exposed fixation device.
Higher risk of dislocation since the bone is soft for 4-6 months and the external fixation device is exposed to impact.
Longer disability
You, the patient has to adjust the device and care for the protruding pins at home.