When bunion surgery is needed, it's usually a success. But not always. So researchers have stepped up with a new study highlighting the key factors that may determine whether the procedure known as modified Lapidus surgery will be unsuccessful. “We set out to find if certain characteristics -- patient or procedure-based -- were associated with failure of the bunion surgery,” said study author Matthew Johnson, DPM, an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

 

Dr. Matthew Johnson

 

In search of an explanation, Dr. Johnson and his colleagues studied the medical records of 222 bunion surgery patients. Nearly 1 in 10 had unsuccessful bunion surgery. Three patient characteristics seemed to drive up the risk that bones won't heal together as intended, Johnson said. The first factor was weight: The higher a patient’s BMI, the greater their risk of surgical failure. Failure risk was also higher among patients whose bunions had a “bigger pre-operative angle,” meaning a relatively more severe form of bunions. The likelihood of failure was also higher for patients who had prior bunion surgery.

 

Source: Alana Mozes, The Buffalo News [2/6/23] 

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News