After my surgery, the doctor came in to tell me that the surgery went well but he accidently "knicked" my tendon. He also said that he "repaired" the tendon and healing should progress as expected. Two weeks after surgery I cannot move my toe. When I asked the doctor if he "knicked it" or severed it he then told me he did infact sever the whole tendon. My tendon has ruptured since the surgery and I will be getting a second opinion.
Has this happened to anyone else and what did they do? Not really wanting to go legal but wondering what complications I might be facing now. Would appreciate some feedback--please.:)

Wow.. I am surprised he told you but I guess if he did not then you would have wondered why your healing would take so long.. If he did indeed repair it -- my guess is that it will eventually be fine..tight but fine --I had surgery for a torn tendon in my elbow..the surgeon had to totally detach and reattach it to the bone I guess so much depends upon where he severed it and how good a job he did with the repair. Tendons take a very long time to heal and will feel tight for a long time. I am a year and 4 mths post op on my arm and I still need to stretch it often as it feels tight but for the most part I would never notice I had anything done to it.
You might want to get a second opinion or at least someone who is willing to send you for an MRI so you can actually see what he did and if the repair looks good. That would be the only way they could see it. It may be hard to trust the word of someone who made the error and certainly does not want a lawsuit..but then again he did tell you that he cut it .. just not the whole truth right away.. hard call to make here.. I think, myself - I would seek out a second opinion.. but research carefully who you go to because you need to trust that they are going to tell you like it is and not " oh he screwed up and I can fix it with another surgery" even when you don't need it..
Good luck

For my bunion surgery I was actually told by the doctor that the tendon would have to be cut. Part of the reason that the bunion occurs is that the tendon between the big toe and the next one tightens and pulls the big toe to the left. In order to correct that leftward pull you must cut the tendon. If they don't cut that tendon, then the chances of you having to go back and redo the surgery is higher. I am now 3 months post op and still have to work really hard in using the muscle to pull the toe up, spread all the toes out, and pushing the toe down. For about 6 weeks or more I actually could not feel any muscle pull in my foot at all. It is slowly returning, but there is still a lot of strength in the foot that has not returned.

I felt a burning tearing sensation between my toes for a long time. Even now, I occasionally have that when I have been working moving the foot a lot during the day.

Why the doctor acts as if this wasn't supposed to occur as part of the surgery, I don't know. What I do know that in a lot of the surgeries they do have to cut the tendon.

Doctor said that he "always" retracts the tendon out of the way but in my case something went wrong. I am upset now because the tendon ruptured and now I am scheduled for an ultrasound to see the damage. I would've had an MRI but the doctor said that the screws would distort the image of the MRI.
Is that true?

Distort the image of the MRI?? I've never heard of that....When I was having to get opinions as to what to do about my back after my car accident, I was asked to get MRI pictures. I was shown comparrison MRI pictures....WITH screws in them....They weren't distorted and neither was the rest of the picture. It was *very* clear actually.

You have to be very careful with MRIs if you have metal- the magnets in the MRI will pull against certain metals so I think it depends on what kind of screws you have. It sounds to me like he did the right thing by telling you. Now you just need to determine how long before it heals.
good luck!

Titanium is ok. Stainless screws may cause blurring.

Distort the image of the MRI?? I've never heard of that....When I was having to get opinions as to what to do about my back after my car accident, I was asked to get MRI pictures. I was shown comparrison MRI pictures....WITH screws in them....They weren't distorted and neither was the rest of the picture. It was *very* clear actually.

OK, I just called another ortho doc office and they did say that the magnets in the MRI will reflect the metal in the foot to make the picture fuzzy. So I guess it is true.

I never heard of having to cut the tendon..my understanding is that the way one is walking puts pressure on the toe joint and pushes it outward thus the bunion.. once it is placed in alignment and orthotics are used to correct the way one is walking it should hold. It could be and my doc just did not get into all the details but I don't think he did . I will ask him.

Regarding MRI's and metal inside your body...

If you have metal, and go for an MRI, it is possible the metal could be pulled out by the giant electromagnet, even if it is in a different part of your body. It depends on the type of metal (iron/steel is the worst), how big it is, and where it is, but it's something people should be aware of.

??? I thought they only used titanium screws in most surgeries these days....don't they???

I think it depends, surgical stainless steel is ( I believe) better for certain applications. I have no idea why but I have a friend who is a spinal surgeon. I will ask when I see him.

No. Titanium is WAY MORE EXPENSIVE than stainless steel. I have a known allergy to SS, therefore titanium was approved. Some surgeries are done with titanium, but most with stainless. Most people don't even know what kind of metal they have.

As an example from my bills:

Screw (stainless steel) 3mmx30mm $112.00
Screw (titanium) 3.5mmx30mm $1044.00

Amazing! That's ONE screw!

wow... I know mine are titanium.. but never knew how costly..

Update:

Well, I just had an ultrasound to see if my tendon has ruptured and it has. I have a 7 cm distance between tendons and will have to have a SECOND surgery to repair---darn doctor! I will have a different doctor do the surgery and will make phonecalls tomorrow. UGH!!!!! Such frustration!

My father has suggested that I go legal with this because of the time involved. Not really sure if I want to go that route yet. People do make mistakes and it is ONLY a toe---right? LOL:mad:

yes people make mistakes but the not so funny joke is doctors bury their mistakes.. ok so this is not a heart transplant ,,, but from my perspective, its your foot, your time off from work, out of your life.. and if people don't call these docs on their mistakes --what about the next person who walks in thier office.. it seems he was very oh well about it and not completley up front.. now you have to go through this all over again.. I would be so angry and not want to pay for the surgery in the first place. Most likely your insurance company paid but if you had to shell out any cash.. you should get that back or at least not have to pay for a surgery that he messed up.. Sorry this stuff gets me angry!

I never heard of having to cut the tendon..my understanding is that the way one is walking puts pressure on the toe joint and pushes it outward thus the bunion.. once it is placed in alignment and orthotics are used to correct the way one is walking it should hold. It could be and my doc just did not get into all the details but I don't think he did . I will ask him.

The adductor hallucis tendon is usually cut in almost all bunion surgeries where the great toe is "leaning" laterally. A lot of doctors don't even mention this step as it is just part of the procedure. This muscle doesn't do anything in the foot (same muscle in the hand that pulls your thumb towards your hand) as we don't use the great toe to grab on to things anymore. This muscle becomes tight and does pull the toe laterally and it helps to straighten the toe by just cutting this tendon.
This original poster i'm guessing has a cut flexor or extensor tendon that is responsible for pulling the toe down or up and does need to be repaired.
That price for a titanium screw is rediculous if it is the ones used for bunions as the cost to the hospital is usually between 75-150/screw for titanium and the stainless steel screws are a lot less. Look where our medical dollars are going- hospitals, medical equipment companies and the pencil pushers at the insurance companies. Guess that is why medicare and a lot of insurance companies are paying doctors about 250.00 to fix a bunion these days and 20 years ago doctors were getting paid around a thousand to fix one. It's not hardly worth the time and headaches to do surgery anymore when you figure that all post op visits are included in that 250 dollar payment.

good luck with your next surgery.

The adductor hallucis tendon is usually cut in almost all bunion surgeries where the great toe is "leaning" laterally. A lot of doctors don't even mention this step as it is just part of the procedure. This muscle doesn't do anything in the foot (same muscle in the hand that pulls your thumb towards your hand) as we don't use the great toe to grab on to things anymore. This muscle becomes tight and does pull the toe laterally and it helps to straighten the toe by just cutting this tendon.
This original poster i'm guessing has a cut flexor or extensor tendon that is responsible for pulling the toe down or up and does need to be repaired.


What you say makes sense but it seemed as if what littlebit was saying is that the doc said it was by accident so most likely a different tendon than the one that is supposed to be repaired.

I am so sorry that you will have to have another surgery. I have to agree with your father about the legal issue. There is no doubt that the dr. made an error. The good thing is that he admitted it so that would be in your favor. I'd get copies of all of your medical records from him now. You'll have them in case you do decide to go the legal route.

Good luck I hope all goes well with the next surgery.

UPDATE:
Had my second surgery with an orthopedic doctor. He said that the podiatrist messed up the repair and I was lucky the suture ruptured. If it had healed the way he repaired it I would've had more problems later on. The orthopedic doctor said he didn't think this doctor had enough training (by the looks of his work) to be doing that kind of surgery. Scary. He also said that he should've consulted another doctor for the repair and not botched my foot. I guess he didn't want to mess with a consult and be late for his vacation.

All in all, the surgery went fine but I am in a lot of pain. I have crutches and a half cast to be in for 4-6 weeks. I should've been completely healed from my bunion surgery by now. What a set back! I did call the doctor and got him on a taped phonecall admitting to his mistake and I hope the second doctor will tesify his findings of my botched surgery. Hopefully, this doctor won't do this to anyone else after this lawsuit!!!

I'm sorry you had to do another surgery. I hope this one works, hang in there and good luck to you.

UPDATE: Well, I have my cast off from my second surgery. It has now been over 10 weeks since my bunionectomy surgery. I have alot of pain when I walk and cannot bend my big toe. There is something wrong. I should be able to almost run by now, right? Anyone have any suggestions?

Being so long in a cast will make your foot and toes very stiff. I'd ease back into gentle ROM and if possible go to PT. Use hot water therapy and ice. If you have scar tissue, start to massage that, because it will also help with ROM. I am 6 months postop, from an akin.austin bunionectomy and I was in alot of pain. I never wore a cast for more than 8 weeks, but, ugh, was I painfully stiff, in the big toe area. I had to go through some painful PT. It will take weeks of rehabilitation. Just wanted to tell you you're not alone. Even now, I still have aches and pains around my surgery site. Progress is slow, but we are here to root you on.........

I agree...the surgery itself will make your toe stiff...being in a cast for that period of time will also make your toe stiff, and your ankle/leg muscles probably atrophied a bit. Take it slow and easy...if you push too fast because you *think* you *ought* to be further along, then you might cause more problems. It is a very frustrating process to say the least....don't do anything to set yourself back even more.....

I am 5 months post op and my toe is still very stiff first thing in the morning.