Recent Advances in Foot and Ankle Surgery: Editorial Comment

Excerpt

Foot and ankle surgery has greatly matured over the last few years, evolving from its position as the Cinderella of the orthopaedic subspecialties to one with new frontiers. While most problems in the hip, knee and shoulder have long been well-documented and studied, we have more recently been aware that foot and ankle problems are just as troublesome, and produce just as much morbidity. I have been given the opportunity to invite a writing team of experts from the Old and the New Worlds to demonstrate current ways to examine, image, manage and rehabilitate problems in the foot and ankle. This symposium explores a whole gamut of topics: fractures of the ankle and of the calcaneus, tendon tears and insufficiency, soft tissue injuries, and ankle arthroplasty. Of particular interest are the recent advances in minimally invasive trauma and orthopaedic surgery in this area. In the past decade new techniques and philosophies of treatment have been introduced and have since evolved. These techniques have the theoretical advantage of decreasing recovery and rehabilitation times, as surgical exposure and deep tissue dissection are minimal and gentler to the soft tissue. Nevertheless, only appropriately planned and conducted studies with high levels of evidence will help us determine whether these are technical exercises for a few, or merit introduction to the mainstream, as occurred with arthroscopy, which some would consider the ultimate minimally invasive procedure. …