Infamous reputation
“Hallux valgus is a common deformity that often requires surgical correction. Therefore, every foot and ankle surgeon is familiar with several procedures for hallux valgus deformity. However, there are many recurrences and complications after hallux valgus surgery.” This was the opening comment by chief editor for the special Hallux Valgus Deformity and Treatment issue of the Foot and Ankle Clinics of North America journal in June 2018.
Bunion surgery has, unfortunately, the infamous reputation among all human surgical conditions for having the greatest number (>150) of different surgical methods for good reasons as if surgeons don’t know what they are doing.
What’s a bunion?
No one is born with bunion deformity. It is developed only later in life. What happens is bones on big-toe side of foot have moved out of their normal alignment. First, the first metatarsal starts to tilt towards the opposite foot. Its far end would then stick out to form the bunion bump and widen the forefoot (hand sketched Video). Second, it would also shift the base of big toe with it to tilt it in opposite direction towards the second toe. Therefore, the indisputable fact is all affected bones are actually normal and innocent.
The human foot
If one can appreciate the reasons for foot being created with 28 bones and 33 joints, then it would become obvious that no bones or joints can be sacrificed by breaking or fusing them without also sacrificing their all-important function for walking and running.
Failed ligaments
Bones can be moved out of their normal position only because the ligaments that are responsible for stabilizing have failed. The reason for them to fail is genetically they are weak by heredity and/or female sex hormone, the estrogen. We know if they are strong enough, no high-heels or marathon would loosen them and thus no bunion for those lucky people. Therefore, fixing failed ligaments is the key to proper correction of the bunion condition.
Less-is-more approach
Different from other bunion surgeries, Syndesmosis bunion surgery has already been proven capable of restoring the biomechanical function of bunion feet because only it can realign displaced bones and joints in 3D and without compromising their integrity. Also, it has been proven capable of consistently preventing bunion from recurring because it can replace the failed ligament with new biological fibrous connective material while it is neglected by other bunion surgeries.
Natural solution
The syndesmosis-like connective ligament growth can be surgically induced by stimulating body’s natural response to certain physiological conditions. Syndesmosis bunion surgery facilitates such healing reaction, that is not much different from the healing of wounds and broken bones that will also last for life.
Principles in preservation
Syndesmosis bunion surgery is based only on sound principles and it has already been backed up by unflappable studies. Our Bunion Center was established to systematically and specifically document unshakable evidence to start not an evolution but a revolution to overturn the traditionally unsubstantiated rationales and results of sacrificing innocent bones and joints.
Not for show
Bunion surgery has traditionally been a contest of which method can deliver the straightest big toes. Unfortunately, straighter big toe is not necessarily equivalent to a better function foot at all. Every bunion patients are equally responsible in ensuring whatever type of surgery they agree to is not just a cosmetic exercise.
Functional solution
Biomechanical function of the foot cannot be properly assessed by just watching patients walk. After all, patients can always walk before surgery, albeit not comfortably and correctly. In order to evaluate objectively whether the biomechanics of a bunion foot has been improved by surgery or not, it is necessary to subject feet to plantar pressure scanning study in walking before and after surgery. We have unprecedentedly done so for >1,000 feet to prove that foot function can be consistently improved by the syndesmosis bunion surgery.
All bunion severities
Bunion surgeons have always been told and believed that different surgeries are necessary for different bunion severities, but the Syndesmosis bunion surgery has unequivocally demonstrated otherwise, as long as the underlying pathology could be correctly identified and effectively corrected like every other medical and surgical conditions. The Syndesmosis bunion surgery has proven itself capable of correcting virtually bunion deformity of all varieties and even salvaging feet failed by other bunion surgeries.
See before & after case studies
Secondary problems
Bunion often causes secondary problems such as clawing of lesser toes, collapse of metatarsal (transverse) and medial (longitudinal) arches, metatarsal callus, metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuroma, bunionette bursitis and even low back pain and poor balance. Since they are caused by bunion, they should also resolve on their own once the bunion problem is truly removed by surgery and no additional surgery should be needed.
See before & after case studies
Revision surgeries
Unfortunately, bunion tends to recur after surgeries, such as McBride, bone-breaking and even fusion procedures, that do not address the incompetent-ligament pathology. To try to correct the recurred bunion, another bone-breaking or fusion surgery is often again recommended. It may be farfetched and even ludicrous to think a soft tissue method like the syndesmosis bunion surgery can do the job, but of course it can do even better because bunion recurrence is also always related to incompetent ligaments that was never addressed in the first place by previous surgery. Thus for the same principle the syndesmosis bunion surgery can also salvage the recurrence problem the same as any new bunion cases.
See before & after case studies
Think outside the box
While surgeons around the world were tinkering endlessly with different new bone-breaking and joint-fusion surgeries, with obviously no satisfactory results and an end in sight yet, Dr. Wu has for long been steadfastedly refining the most logical syndesmosis bunion surgery over 30 years and 2,000 feet without any need to jump ship, only because it has been delivering excellent results as good as its surgical principles represent. We foresee the syndesmosis bunion surgery will finally end the decades of mad scrambling in the “Bone-Breaking and Joint Fusion” box.