What's Hot: Minimally Invasive Forefoot Surgery

The adoption of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is rapidly expanding from Europe to North America, fueled by technological advancements, increased surgeon expertise, and an increasing volume of research. 

Patients like it

Kaufmann et al. conducted a study where they randomly assigned 47 patients scheduled for bunion correction using distal osteotomies into two groups: 25 patients underwent MIS, while 22 patients received open chevron (OC) surgery. Post-operatively, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of the intermetatarsal angle and the hallux valgus (HV) angle. At 12 weeks post-surgery, however, patients in the MIS group demonstrated a clear preference for their MIS side, showing a statistically significant advantage over those who underwent open surgery.

Surgeons must master the learning curve 

In a systematic review, Baumann et al. (2023) concluded that, on average, 35.5 surgeries (ranging from 27 to 40) are required to reach the plateau phase for MIS for HV. The learning curve is characterized by a significant increase in operating room time and fluoroscopy usage. Despite the small sample size in this study, the initial phase of the learning curve for MIS for HV is not associated with decreased outcomes or higher complication rates.