Third Ankle Reconstruction in 18 Mos

stepbystep89

Here are a couple things you can try -

It has been said on this board before that you could contact your local professional or semi professional sports team and see who they use.

You could ask your friends and family for referrals. Find out if anyone you know has had your condition or other foot/ankle conditions. If they have, ask who they have seen and what their experience was like.

Check to make sure your doc is board certified. You can also ask them how many of the procedures they do each year - you really don't want to use someone who only does 1 or 2 a year.

Something I noticed about my OS was that he was a teaching doctor. I made sure he would be the one actually performing the procedure from start to finish and that the students were only there to observe. Nothing against learning, but I wanted to get what I was paying for.

Finally, trust your gut. If you feel like your dr didn't spend enough time examining you and you wonder how he knows what to do, ask him. My doc loves that I ask questions and tells me I ask good ones. I just want to make sure I am getting the best care possible. I love my doc and wouldn't go to anyone else for my foot/ankle!

Don't be afraid to ask more questions on this board. While we may not be professionally trained medical professionals, we do have personal experience to draw from and share our knowledge.

Step

cwbama

Thanks for the advice. I felt really good about the previous doc and now feel like I got burned. I have been checking credentials and references with everyone I can find and so far am not getting very far. Everyone knows the reputation of the clinic, but not necessarily this particular doc. Thanks for the help, I just know that it HAS to work this time because I can't even think about the prospect of any more surgery after this one.

K_Lana

I've kinda been where you are.
My first surgery I had a modified Brostrom, peroneal brevis tear, peroneal subluxation, and 2 OCD lesions.
It lasted about a year.
Had surgery #2. Had another Brostrom but this time, and this is KEY... my dr. also did a repair called RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LATERAL LIGAMENTS OF THE
ANKLE USING A REGIONAL PERIOSTEAL FLAP. THis was done because I have multi-joint laxity and as my 2nd dr. (the one who did surgery 2 and 3) said, my ligaments were a piece of crap. I also had more tears in my peroneal brevis, this time 2 tears, and another microfracture on an OCD and an OATS procedure for an OCD.

I never recovered, really. The ligament part though is good. My ankle is very stiff. The OATS worked for my OCD. But my peroneal tendons were fused to the bone and I tore my posterior tibial tendon. So I had surgery #3 with yet another microfracture for an OCD and repair of the PTT and debridement of the peroneal and PT tendons.

What I found is that people who have loose joints don't do well with a plain old Brostrom or modified Brostrom. We just stretch them back out again with normal activity. My dr. was going to use cadavar ligaments in a Colville procedure, but found my perosteal flap was thick enough to use.

If I could do things over again I would have brought up my crappy peroneal tendon and had that replaced or something. But my MRI before surgery #2 said my peroneal tendon was just peachy, even though more than 50% of it was torn. I give 0% stock in MRI's since every one I 've ever had has missed somethign major, like 1cm holes in my talus, torn tendons and ruptured ligaments.

I'd ask about other repairs that can be done on your ligaments. There are many procedures out there.

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Brostromx2 peroneal tendon repairx2 Peroneal subluxation PTT tendon repair microfracturex5 OATS Distraction arthroplasty ORIF talus & fibula subtalar fusion ankle replacement (failed) TT fusion
RSD