Understanding the Different Types of Ankle Surgery

Ankle surgery is a surgical procedure that is used to treat an injury or condition in your ankle. The ankle joint is held together by cartilage and ligaments, while muscles help the tendons move. Ankle injuries and pain may affect these parts of the ankle. Ankle surgery may be needed if other treatments cannot relieve your pain or repair the damage to your ankle. Surgeons may operate on your ankle using minimally invasive surgery techniques. Let’s see the various types of ankle surgery procedures.

Ankle Fraction Surgery

Surgery may be needed if you break a bone in the ankle. This type of ankle surgery in Houston uses screws, wires, and metal plates to hold the bones together in the right position to heal. Ligament repair may also be needed for the injury in order to help stabilize the ankle joint.

Ankle Impingement Surgery

Ankle impingement surgery may be needed to remove bone or tissues that are trapped in your ankle joint, causing restriction of movement and pain. It could be scar tissue, bone spur, or soft tissues that have become swollen or loosened by disease or injury. This surgery will remove these tissues and restore the joint.

Ankle Fusion Surgery

This procedure is used to treat advanced ankle arthritis. The surgeon will remove the damaged cartilage and bone tissue from the ankle joint and bring the ends of the bones together while securing them with screws and plates. This will cause the bones to grow together and joints to fuse in position.

Ankle fusion surgery will remove the friction and inflammation that cause pain with advanced arthritis. It also makes your joints stiff. The surgeon may fuse the joint at a right angle for standing and walking. Later, it will bear your weight without any pain but may not be as flexible as it was before.

Ankle Ligament Reconstruction Surgery

Ankle reconstruction surgery may be needed if you have chronic ankle instability. It may form as a result of torn ligaments in your ankle that never fully healed. Weakened ankle ligaments lead to repeated ankle sprains that make the ankle more unstable over time. This surgery can repair your lateral ankle ligaments that stabilize your ankle from the sides. The most common method is to tighten the ligaments with stitches. However, in severe cases, one of the ligaments may need replacement.

Ankle Tendon Repair Surgery

This surgery may be needed if you have chronic ankle tendinopathy. Tendon tear, or peroneal tendon instability, which may be caused by tendon tears. Repetitive strain injuries cause chronic tendonitis. Ankle tendon repair surgery involves the removal of the damaged layers of the tendon tissue, tightening it, and repairing a tear with stitches. A tendon transfer may be needed for severe tears, which involves replacing the damaged tendon with another one from somewhere else in your body.

Summing Up

Surgery can be a stressful process. Most people try other alternative treatments first. However, some ankle conditions can only be fixed by surgery. The surgeon will resolve this ailment within your ankle and restore it to its proper form and function.

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