Tony Wilkinson
Consultant Podiatric Surgeon
Talks about Toe Lengthening Surgery at The Yorkshire Foot Hospital, Leeds
What exactly is Brachymetatarsia ?
This is a condition in which one of the metatarsal bones is congenitally short. It tends to affect women more than men and commonly involves the 4th metatarsal.
Patients that present with Brachymetatarsia attend The Yorkshire Foot Hospital complaining that their fourth toe is too short and overlapping the third or fifth toe.
As well as relieving their pain, patients tend to feel embarrassed especially when wearing open-toed sandals and are looking for an improved cosmetic appearance.
How we carefully select our Patients
Prior to considering surgical treatment for Toe lengthening correction, we advise all our patients that once you have fully exhausted all non-surgical treatments which may involve the use of orthotics and you still present with the following:
- Pain
- Deformity
- Unable to wear footwear of your choice
- Unable to enjoy sports and other leisure activities
- Seeking good cosmetic appearance
If you satisfy these criteria we will be happy to offer you treatment at The Yorkshire Foot Hospital, Leeds.
Most successful Toe lengthening Surgery procedure at The Yorkshire Foot Hospital, Leeds
The One stage approach
This involves lengthening the toe by cutting the metatarsal and lengthening the gap cut.
A small piece of bone is taken from your heel and is fitted into the gap created.
The new toe length is held in its new position with a small titanium plate and screws to stabilise the toe in its new corrected lengthened position.
It takes at least 6 weeks for the bone to heal, and a little longer with a graft. Recovery is usually complete within 12 weeks
- Always carried out under local anaesthetic, reducing health risks compared with general anaesthesia.
- Toe lengthening surgery generally takes 60 minutes to perform as an Outpatient procedure.
- Patients are placed into a walking cast for 2 weeks.
- It takes at least 6 weeks for the bone to heal, and a little longer with a graft. Recovery is usually complete within 12 weeks.
- Patients can usually return to work, sport and other leisure activities at around 12 weeks.
