Bunion Deformity of Foot
- Evolution of:
- Technologies
- Procedures
Minimally-invasive Bunion Surgery
Minimally-invasive bunion surgery arose in an attempt to make surgery less painful for patients, while still correcting the alignment problems in the foot. By using a smaller incision (one or several tiny poke-holes) and leaving more of the soft tissues intact, minimally-invasive surgery is thought to create less scar tissue during the healing process. Less disruption of the surrounding soft tissue is also attractive because the small blood vessels, which help deliver oxygenated blood for healing, travel through this tissue to reach the bones. Finally, minimally-invasive surgery by definition involves a much smaller incision, which can be nice on the foot, as larger scars can be irritated by sock seams and by wearing certain shoes.
Bunion Surgery
Treatment of bunion deformity can be as simple as shoe wear modification, or as involved as foot surgery to break and realign the bones of the foot and fix them in place with hardware. The goal of treating a bunion is to improve the alignment of the great toe joint, reduce or eliminate the bump on the inner border, and improve other related toe problems, all in an effort to relieve foot pain. Because the foot is dependent to gravity, post-operative swelling and pain are sometimes challenging for patients to manage.
CrossRoads Extremity Systems MINIBunion™ Implant
The CrossRoads Extremity Systems MINIBunion™ Implant is part of a system that allows for the bony malalignment to be corrected and held in place, just like in traditional bunion surgery, but all through a very tiny incision along the inner border of the great toe. The surgeon uses a guide and set of tools that come with the implant to make a cut in the metatarsal bone of the great toe. The surgeon then manually straightens the great toe and inserts the MINIBunion™ Implant through the same small incision. Two screws are then used to lock the implant in place in the newly-straightened toe. The system also includes materials to put stitches in the joint capsule to tighten it back up after bunion correction. Standard post-operative instructions with the MINIBunion™ Implant involve early weight-bearing in a post-op shoe.
Other Related Technologies
