Surgery can be very successful in relieving pain and restoring function. However, in some cases the outcomes does not meet patient expectations from continued pain and/or deformity. Even in the best of hands, not all patients will have excellent outcomes. The reasons for non-ideal outcomes vary and despite appropriate surgical technique can occur from continued scarring, failure of the bones to heal, bones healing in the wrong position, failure of tendons to heal, infection, as clear causes. In other cases, the thought process, surgical technique and postoperative rehab was all appropriate and persistent pain and/or deformity can persist as some pathology is difficult to treat.
Dealing with continued problems after surgery can be difficult both physically and emotionally. The Northwestern Foot and Ankle Orthopedic program specializes in treating these complex problems. We do our best to understand why you have continued pain and do our best to explain the reasons why the surgery did not achieve success and then work together with the patient to formulate both non-surgical and surgical plans to help improve pain and function. We have a significant amount of experience in this type of work and have published a textbook titled “Foot and Ankle Surgery - Management of Complications” to help other surgeons treat patients with continued difficulty after surgery.
At Northwestern Memorial Hospital we have access to the latest equipment, biologic augmentation techniques including using your own mesenchymal signaling cells (“stem cells”), bone grafts, amniotic membrane in addition to our surgical expertise to help improve your function.
