Welcome to the Podiatry Arena forums, for communication between foot health professionals about podiatry and related topics.
You are currently viewing our podiatry forum as a guest which gives you limited access to view all podiatry discussions and access our other features. By joining our free global community of Podiatrists and other interested foot health care professionals you will have access to post podiatry topics (answer and ask questions), communicate privately with other members (PM), upload content, view attachments, receive a weekly email update of new discussions, earn CPD points and access many other special features. Registered users do not get displayed the advertisments in posted messages. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our global Podiatry community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
Dear collegues! Could I remove little (1x0,5 cm)dry plantar ulcer and close wound with sutures during reconstructive surgery of cold Sharcot foot (Shopart arthrodesis) or I have to wait complete ulcer healing?
Dear collegues! Could I remove little (1x0,5 cm)dry plantar ulcer and close wound with sutures during reconstructive surgery of cold Sharcot foot (Shopart arthrodesis) or I have to wait complete ulcer healing?
pahomovigor
You could excise and close the ulcer, but I would avoid doing an arthrodesis until it has healed.
Why not heal the ulcer first in a total contact cast or removable CAM walker, then do the arthrodesis later to lessen risk of infection?
Or how about removal of just the underlying exostosis and excision of the ulcer if the foot is relatively stable, before attempting arthrodesis?
Dear collegues! Could I remove little (1x0,5 cm)dry plantar ulcer and close wound with sutures during reconstructive surgery of cold Sharcot foot (Shopart arthrodesis) or I have to wait complete ulcer healing?
By not waiting for the ulcer to heal completely you probably increase the risk of infection at your operative site. However, if the ulcer is fairly clean and superficial, I am sure many surgeons would go ahead and close the ulcer primarily during the Charcot reconstructive surgery. Surgeon's choice.
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
**************************************************
Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
Fifty-one adults (28 men, 23 women) with Charcot arthropathy of the midfoot underwent surgical correction. Mean patient age was 58 years (SD, 9.9 years). All affected feet were nonplantigrade and at high risk for ulcers. Before surgery, mean lateral talar-first metatarsal angle was 27.6 degrees (SD, 12.8 degrees). Corrective osteotomy was performed to achieve plantigrade alignment. At minimum 1-year follow-up, 44 of 51 patients had the desired outcome. Mean lateral talar-first metatarsal angle had decreased to 6.4 degrees (SD, 7.7 degrees). Despite its associated high complication rate, corrective osteotomy can help patients become ulcer- and infection-free and maintain their ability to walk with commercially available therapeutic footwear. A treatment algorithm is presented.
BACKGROUND: Charcot foot arthropathy negatively impacts the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of affected individuals. The disease process often is responsible for the development of significant deformity and disability, often progressing to lower extremity amputation. Many patients are morbidly obese, immunocompromised, and have complex wounds with underlying bony infection or poor bone quality, making operative correction and internal fixation problematic.
METHODS: Using a prospective clinical algorithm, 26 consecutive diabetic adults with multiple diabetic co-morbidities, including morbid obesity, had operative correction of nonplantigrade Charcot midfoot deformity at the midfoot level. Correction was maintained with a neutrally applied three-level ring external fixator. Average body mass index was 38.31 +/- 12.51. Nineteen patients used insulin. Fourteen had open wounds with underlying osteomyelitis. The altered relationship between the forefoot and hindfoot was measured as 14.04 +/- 31.09 degrees in the anteroposterior axis, and 16.70 +/- 17.47 degrees in the lateral axis before surgery. Surgery included Achilles tendon lengthening, excision of infected bone, correction of the multiplanar deformity, and culture-specific parenteral antibiotic therapy.
RESULTS: At a minimum 1-year followup, 24 of 26 patients were ulcer and infection free and able to ambulate with commercially-available depth-inlay shoes and custom accommodative foot orthoses. One patient died of unrelated causes, and one had transtibial amputation for persistent infection. Four developed recurrent plantar ulcers, which resolved with excision of underlying bony prominences. There were two stress fractures through olive wire pin sites, one requiring intramedullary nailing. The radiographic anteroposterior axis was corrected to 3.12 +/- 9.42 degrees, and lateral to 10.42 +/- 11.86 degrees after surgery.
CONCLUSIONS: Morbidly obese diabetic individuals with multiple co-morbidities complicating severe Charcot foot deformity can achieve correction of midfoot deformity after operative correction of the deformity and maintenance of that correction with a neutrally applied ring external fixator.
Between January 2000 and May 2003, 50 consecutive Charcot diabetic salvage procedures were performed on 44 patients (average age 55.1 years). Twenty-four women (26 feet) and 20 men (24 feet) underwent a reconstructive limb salvage procedure for diabetic Charcot neuroarthropathy using a systematic surgical approach involving internal and external fixation. A retrospective analysis of patient satisfaction and clinical outcome was evaluated over a 2- to 5-year postoperative period; 75% of patients completed the SF-36 health survey and a patient satisfaction survey. A reliability analysis found the SF-36 survey to be an adequate health measurement tool in this Charcot neuroarthropathy cohort. Analysis of variance and categorical data analysis showed that the patients improved statistically significantly in response to surgical intervention; however, none of the demographic variables was statistically significantly associated with patient outcomes as measured by the SF-36 and the patient satisfaction survey. Level of Clinical Evidence: 2.
Background: Fracture-dislocation of the midfoot with collapse of the longitudinal arch is common in patients with neuropathic arthropathy of the foot. In this study, we describe a technique of midfoot arthrodesis with use of intramedullary axial screw fixation and review the results and complications following use of this technique.
Methods: A retrospective study of twenty-two patients who had undergone surgical reconstruction and arthrodesis to treat Charcot midfoot deformity was performed. Bone resection and/or osteotomy were required to reduce deformity. Axially placed intramedullary screws, inserted either antegrade or retrograde across the arthrodesis sites, were used to restore the longitudinal arch. Radiographic measurements were recorded preoperatively, immediately postoperatively, and at the time of the last follow-up and were analyzed in order to assess the amount and maintenance of correction.
Results: Patients were evaluated clinically and radiographically at an average of fifty-two months. Complete osseous union was achieved in sixteen of the twenty-two patients, at an average of 5.8 months. There were five partial unions in which a single joint did not unite in an otherwise stable foot. There was one nonunion, with recurrence of deformity. All patients returned to an independent functional ambulatory status within 9.5 months. Weight-bearing radiographs showed the talar-first metatarsal angle, the talar declination angle, and the calcaneal-fifth metatarsal angle to have improved significantly and to have been corrected to nearly normal values by the surgery. All measurements remained significantly improved, as compared with the preoperative values, at the time of final follow-up. There were no recurrent dislocations. Three patients had a recurrent plantar ulcer at the metatarsophalangeal joint that required additional surgery. There were eight cases of hardware failure.
Conclusions: Open reduction and arthrodesis with use of multiple axially placed intramedullary screws for the surgical correction of neuropathic midfoot collapse provides a reliable stable construct to achieve and maintain correction of the deformity.
What "charcot reconstructive" procedure are you planning?
Where is the ulcer relative to the bony pathology?
I would agree with LL and Dr. Kirby that it may be of value to the outcome of your reconstruction to go ahead and heal the ulcer first. The only point I might add is that if the ulcer is caused by, say, a subluxed Calcaneal Cuboid or other area that you are planning on fusing, then it may make more sense to correlate the fusion with a closure of the small ulcer (or just pack it if you are going apply a NWB cast anyway).
Steve
__________________
DrSArbes
Fellow American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons
Board Certified Foot & Ankle Surgery, ABPS
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
It depends on variables such as (1) where ulcer is in relation to reconstruction, (2) what type of "reconstruction" is proposed- an arthrodesis, I assume, (3) post-operative plans (immobilization)
__________________
Dr. John G. Fasick
LSUHSC New Orleans
Clinical Insructor, LSU School of Medicine jfasic@lsuhsc.edu
it is much better to leave the ulcer unclosed but after good deridment and removal of all callus areas followed by total contact cast ,, we have much data regarding this work in correcting the charcot's foot.
thank you very much
abdulhakim Al-tamimi
General surgeon, diabetic foot interest
university of Aden , Yemen
Can we predict outcome of surgical reconstruction of Charcot neuroarthropathy by dynamic plantar pressure assessment?-A proof of concept study.
Najafi B, Crews RT, Armstrong DG, Rogers LC, Aminian K, Wrobel J. Gait Posture. 2009 Oct 15. [Epub ahead of print]
Quote:
The joint deformity that arises as a result of Charcot neuroarthropathy, leads to gait modification. Ulceration risk associated with the deformity is generally assessed by measuring plantar pressure magnitude (PPM). However, as PPM is partially dependent on gait speed and treatment interventions may impact speed, the use of PPM to validate treatment is not ideal. This study suggests a novel assessment protocol, which is speed independent and can objectively (1) characterize abnormality in dynamic plantar loading in patients with foot Charcot neuroarthropathy and (2) screen improvement in dynamic plantar loading after foot reconstruction surgery. To examine whether the plantar pressure distribution (PPD) measured using EMED platform, was normal, a customized normal distribution curve was created for each trial. Then the original PPD was fitted to the customized normal distribution curve. This technique yields a regression factor (RF), which represents the similarity of the actual pressure distribution with a normal distribution. RF values may range from negative 1 to positive 1 and as the value increases positively so does the similarity between the actual and normalized pressure distributions. We tested this novel score on the plantar pressure pattern of healthy subjects (N=15), Charcot patients pre-operation (N=4) and a Charcot patient post-foot reconstruction (N=1). In healthy subjects, the RF was 0.46+/-0.1. When subjects increased their gait speed by 29%, PPM was increased by 8% (p<10(-5)), while RF was not changed (p=0.55), suggesting that RF value is independent of gait speed. In preoperative Charcot patients, the RF<0, however, RF increased post-surgery (RF=0.42), indicating a transition to normal plantar distribution after Charcot reconstruction.
INTRODUCTION: Diabetic neuropathic osteoarthropathy (DNOAP) often leads to progressive malpositioning of the foot with subsequent ulcers and a high risk of amputation. There are very few reliable studies on long-term outcome. This study includes the largest follow- up collective ever carried out. METHODS: In a retrospective study 205 surgical procedures (195 patients) for complex malpositioning of the foot and/or chronic ulcers using a fixateur externe (188 cases) or Steinmann pins (17 cases) in patients with NOAP were included. The average follow-up time was 21 months. The goal was walking without pain in customized orthopedic shoes and avoiding amputation. RESULTS: No primary amputations were necessary. Patient activity improved by more than 1 level according to the classification for lower limb amputees following the Hofer activity score. The most common minor complication was persistence or recurrence of ulcers in 48 patients. Only 7 new recurrences of NOAP were observed. In 15 patients secondary amputation was necessary. Approximately 50% of the patients could be mobilized with the help of customized orthopedic shoes 18 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: By using a fixateur externe many amputations could be avoided and patient's activity could be improved. The interdisciplinary teamwork between an orthopedic surgeon, orthopedic shoemaker and orthopedic technician is essential for long term success.
Reconstructive Charcot surgery
Linear Mode
