EP #12: Stepping into Advanced Podiatry: The Art of Foot Surgery

Ever wondered what goes on in the precise and transformative field of podiatry surgery? Join us as we, Dr. Lauren DeBakeroff and Jeremy Wolf, uncover the lesser-known complexities of bunion and hammertoe surgeries on the LMD Podiatry Podcast. Dr. Lauren, with her expert knowledge, walks us through not only the functional benefits but also the aesthetically pleasing results of correcting foot misalignments. She further reveals the life-changing nature of flat foot reconstruction surgeries, where pain relief and restored alignment converge to improve patients' quality of life.

Our discussion then pivots to the nitty-gritty of podiatric surgical logistics. Dr. Lauren sheds light on which procedures are deftly performed in-office using local anesthesia and which necessitate the more controlled setting of an operating room. We also explore the breakthroughs in minimally invasive techniques and how they significantly enhance recovery and overall patient satisfaction. With the integration of advanced imaging technologies for meticulous preoperative planning, Dr. Lauren emphasizes the perpetual advancement of surgical practices aimed at ensuring patients enjoy a pain-free, active lifestyle. Tune in for an enlightening conversation on the cutting edge of podiatry surgery, where each step forward is a step toward optimal foot health.

To learn more, visit: LMDpodiatry.com or contact (954) 680-7133

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the LMD Podiatry Podcast. Trust us to get back on your feet. Here's your host, Dr Lauren DeBakeroff.

Jeremy Wolf: 0:15

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the LMD Podiatry Podcast. I'm your co-host, Jeremy Wolf, joined by your host, Dr Lauren D. Dr Lauren, always a pleasure, Thank you for having me. Oh, thank you for having me. It's your show. Come on, Get on out of here. Get on here. So today we're going to talk a little bit about surgery, and I know that most podiatrists do some kind of surgeries not all, but I know that's part of what you do is getting in there in the operating room and taking care of helping some people through surgical procedures. So what are some of the most common surgeries typically done by podiatrists?

Lauren Dabakaroff: 0:52

So the most common podiatry surgeries that we do are bunion surgery and hammer toe surgery. Hammer toes are crooked toes. Hammer toe surgery is to straighten them. Hammer toe surgery Hammer toes are crooked toes. Hammer toe surgery is to straighten them. Bunions is when you know your joint is out of alignment and then we realign the joints and realign the foot so you have a nice, straight, beautiful foot. So bunion surgeries and hammer toes are amongst the common. The more advanced surgeries that are going on today are your flat foot reconstruction surgeries. Today are your flat foot reconstruction surgeries. Basically, if patients have a lot of pain and everything failed, then there are amazing surgeries and different techniques to realign the foot and put your foot, make your foot straight, so you don't have any pain anymore.

Jeremy Wolf: 1:41

Flat foot. What was it? Reconstruction? So you're actually getting in there and you're like what, creating the arch on the on the foot, and like moving. What does that entail?

Lauren Dabakaroff: 1:54

I mean, it depends. There's different. Every surgery is well thought out and planned. You look at the x-rays. You measure all the angles the foot. If the toes are sticking out with your flat foot, so you can, you put an implant in the heel bone. Or if the heel bone is completely crooked and that's what's causing your flat foot, so we realign the heel bone. There's different techniques If this angle is off, you put an implant, or you fuse this joint or you fuse that joint. There's all these different techniques to help with realigning the foot and reconstructing the foot.

Jeremy Wolf: 2:30

So now, these types of surgeries that you're going through the flat foot reconstruction, the bunion surgeries are these all procedures that you're doing outpatient, out of the office, or are you doing these in your office?

Lauren Dabakaroff: 2:43

So the bigger surgeries like your flat floor reconstructions and joint fusions and things like that, I do them in the operating room. Okay, it's better that patients are asleep for that, under anesthesia, because those you don't want to hear what I'm doing. And then for I do do some minor procedures in the office. I do hammer toe surgery in the office. If it's one or two toes, I will do them in my office under local anesthesia. There are also many minimally invasive techniques to help realign the toes that are easy to do in the office. So that's definitely a great advance in technology in that sense. Some I know, some I don't know. That's the whole point of being any type of surgeon or doctor. You have to. You know, if you didn't learn it in your residency, you have to like keep up with everyone. So there's definitely courses all year long and I'm trying to make all my patients happy. So we're going to learn everything that we need to keep everything pain-free and minimally invasive.

Jeremy Wolf: 3:47

Yes, that's what we like. Now I was going to ask you a little bit more about that. Obviously, when the option is available for minimally invasive surgery, that's optimal than going into the full-blown operating room. How are some of these advanced imaging technologies? I know you said you do a lot of prep work and you try to figure out the best way to solve some of these issues. How are some of the advanced imaging technologies improving the preoperative planning and outcomes in surgery that you've seen as of late?

Lauren Dabakaroff: 4:14

So that's more, for you can get a 3D CT of the foot when you're trying to plan your surgery and basically it's just on the program. You could just see the patient's whole entire foot bones in three dimensions and you could scroll around and see piece the puzzle together of how to fix their foot. So you know these 3D images help a lot with advanced preparing ahead of time for your surgeries and helping you figure out what's the best option for that patient. Mris are also good for planning as well. It is also a three-dimensional image as well. Mri is great for like soft tissue reconstruction, to see where the tendons and the joints are, and things like that.

Jeremy Wolf: 5:04

I was just going to say something. I lost my train of thought. It was it'll come back to me. Let me ask you another question and then maybe it'll come back to me. So, what's on the horizon right? When are we going? When am I going to have an issue with my foot? Let's say I get like gangrene and they normally would need to amputate the foot. When are we going to have a new 3d printing machine that's going to print me out a new foot? When is that coming? What's? What's the latest and greatest? What's on?

Lauren Dabakaroff: 5:27

the horizon we actually have people are 3d printing bones.

Jeremy Wolf: 5:32

I was just tongue in cheek, joking about that.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 5:41

So people are 3d printing like bones instead, because we sometimes, when people need to have an arthritic joint and they don't want to fuse it and you want to replace the bone instead of using like a cadaver bone, you literally 3d print like one of your ankle bones and put it inside your foot and it's been working really really well, just that easy, just put it yeah, I don't do that yet I'm not like in a hospital that has all that fancy stuff, but it's definitely out there.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 6:09

There are a lot of advanced techniques that we're doing.

Jeremy Wolf: 6:12

What else. So I was going to, it came to me. It came to me, so I was going to ask when you're doing these procedures in the more advanced procedures where you're using 3d imaging and things like that, are you doing that a hundred percent manually or is there any assistance from like robot technology in these surgeries? How does that work?

Lauren Dabakaroff: 6:33

So podiatry does not have robotics, robotic surgery.

Jeremy Wolf: 6:38

No no. Okay, I got my, no my mind is just going way into the future. I have a curious mind.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 6:44

They do it for urology, like the bladder and things like that, but in surgery we just use our hands, grab a knife, some sutures and use hardware just like an orthopedist very similar to what they do.

Jeremy Wolf: 7:00

Well, I for one hope I never have to see you in the operating room. As much as I love you, I don't want to see you looming over me with a knife.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 7:09

I was going to say. I wanted to mention that one of the most common surgeries that I have been performing is the lapiplasty surgery.

Jeremy Wolf: 7:15

It's a 3D bunion Back up a second.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 7:18

Lapiplasty. It's called the lapiplasty 3D bunion. Correction Okay.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 7:25

Do tell, elaborate. So I was going to mention that there is a surgery it's called the lapidus surgery and basically it's been done for decades. But throughout the years they realized that there's throughout the surgery, the surgical technique, there's always like hiccups along the way that's affecting the way you do the surgery and it prolongs the surgical time and things like that. So there's this company that created Lapffey Plasty and Laffey Plasty it has all these gadgets basically to help you realign the bunion, with the right angles and measurements and things like that. It makes the surgery like easier, faster, swifter, and they have these special plates that can allow early weight bearing, whereas the old surgery you'd have to be in crutches for six to eight weeks, whereas now you can put your foot down as early as two weeks and some surgeons actually put your foot down within a few days. I don't do that. That's the beauty of the new hardware that's out there. I just wanted to give you one example of an updated surgical technique that's very common today.

Jeremy Wolf: 8:37

All right, very, very cool. So I should say let me preface that, as much as I don't want to have to go in to get surgery, if I ever do need surgery I'm coming to see you because you helped me tremendously with my running endeavors. You gave me some support. I was having a pain in my foot and guess what, it's gone. I actually ran nine and a half miles a couple of weeks ago, approaching half marathon.

Jeremy Wolf: 8:57

I need to start with one for me, and no pain in the feet anymore. The pain now is in my knees and my hips and my back right, so we're making progress, oh goodness, all right. Anything else you wanted to touch upon before we wrap this one up?

Lauren Dabakaroff: 9:14

If, you have pain or you don't like the way your foot looks, whether it's a bunion, a hammer toe, if you have ankle pain, hind foot pain, you need to get an x-ray. You need to come and see me. Just an x-ray gives a whole. A basic x-ray of your foot gives a whole plethora of information about why patients have foot pain and why their foot looks the way that it does, and there's both invasive and minimally invasive procedures that can help it all, all of it. So it really. But every surgery is reliant on everybody's foot, ankles and imaging and things like that, and you want to do what's best for the patient based on their age and their medical history and things like that.

Jeremy Wolf: 10:00

All right, very good, you hear that. Everyone out there Go see Dr DeBakeroff, go get your feet checked out. Most of us I could probably speak for most people they don't go get routine checkups at the podiatrist. They wait until there's an actual problem. There's nothing wrong with going in just to get a checkup and just to get checked out to see how you're doing. As we say, the ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I'm saying that a lot lately.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 10:21

I like it. Yeah, ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I like that.

Jeremy Wolf: 10:25

So go see Dr DeBakaroff get it done. All right, and you also helped out my stepmother. She was having some severe issues with her foot and she came in to see you and she's giving rave reviews.

Lauren Dabakaroff: 10:36

Thank you, dr Lauren for taking care of her.

Jeremy Wolf: 10:40

I appreciate it. All right, everyone. Thanks for tuning in and we will catch you all next time on the next episode of the LMD Podiatry Podcast.

Speaker 1: 10:47

Everyone, take care and have a wonderful day thank you for listening to the lmd podiatry podcast. For more information, visit lmd podiatrycom. That's lmd podiatrycom or call 954-680-7133.