Benefits of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Dr. Anthony Spitz, DPM

Podiatrist & Ankle and Foot Surgeon located in Wheeling, IL

Did you know that foot and ankle pain affects 1 in every 5 Americans today?

If you are part of the “foot pain club,” and discomfort in your lower limbs just keeps lingering on and on – making it hard for you to enjoy the best things in life – then you may be a strong candidate for minimally invasive surgery.

Although a torn tendon or a broken bone required large incisions to allow doctors to correct the problem back in the olden days, today many foot and ankle conditions can be repaired using very small surgical tools and specialized cameras. And aside from a smaller incision, minimally invasive surgeries bring many other benefits as well.

What’s even better: Dr. Anthony Spitz provides minimally invasive surgery options right here at our Illinois office.

We use these procedures to correct many painful foot diseases and conditions, including bunions, hammertoes, stiff big toe, painful calluses, diabetic foot ulcerations, heel pain, warts, and much more.

But what exactly is minimally invasive foot surgery, and what are its benefits?

What Is Minimally Invasive Surgery?

Minimally invasive foot and ankle surgery is a type of surgery done with a very small incision that requires little or no stitching. Through these extremely small incisions, surgeons are able to insert specially designed instruments to correct the problem.

This form of procedure was first pioneered by Dr. Morton Polokoff in 1945, and in the decades that followed, further surgical advancements have led to the state-of-art procedures that we perform today.

Now, minimally invasive surgery has become much safer and more comfortable for patients, restoring health and function to the feet and ankles without the need for more intrusive – and often painful! – surgical methods.

But you should keep in mind that these minimally invasive foot surgeries should only be performed by surgeons trained in this specific field.

Dr. Spitz has acquired these specialized surgical skills after extensive training, continued education, seminars, and fellowships within the minimally invasive foot surgery community. In fact, he is one of two podiatrists trained in HyProCure (a type of minimally invasive surgery) in the greater Illinois community.

So What Are the Benefits of Minimally Invasive Surgery?

By using much smaller incisions, minimally invasive surgery provides many benefits over standard surgical procedures. These include:

Less tissue damage. Compared to traditional open surgery (where larger incisions are made, thereby creating more trauma to the soft tissue), minimally invasive surgery uses much smaller incisions disturbing less tissue and leading to a quicker recovery time. (We know – we already talked about this, but it’s an important point to emphasize!)

Less anesthesia.Due to the nature of minimally invasive foot surgery procedures, patients often remain awake during surgery (after local anesthesia is carefully applied in the appropriate area), reducing the use of general anesthesia. This opens up surgery possibilities for patients who may have been previously considered “at risk” for traditional surgeries due to medical history.

No hospital stay. If you have a hectic schedule or can’t afford to take much time off from work for a foot or ankle procedure, you will want an option that requires less recovery time. Dr. Spitz performs minimally invasive foot and ankle surgeries on an outpatient basis, requiring no hospital stay at all and allowing for much faster healing.

Shorter recovery time. Since there is less damage done to the surrounding tissues, and patients are able to return home after the surgery is complete, recovery time is much shorter and easier. This means you will be able to get back to doing the things you love most before you know it – and without pain!

Less pain while recovering. Studies have shown that patients who undergo minimally invasive surgery report experiencing less pain than those who opt for traditional surgery. As a result, patients of minimally invasive surgery have less need for pain relievers.

Less scaring. Since minimally invasive surgeries require smaller incisions, scars left by these procedures are smaller and less noticeable.

Safer for people with chronic health issues. Some traditional open surgeries are not suitable for everyone. If you have a weak immune system, issues with narcotic pain medications, alcoholism, a blood or clotting disorder, sleep apnea, or heart disease (to name just a few), the risks of conventional surgery may outweigh the benefits.

Minimally invasive surgery can be considered when other treatments, like medication, heat or ice therapy, and physical therapy have failed to provide the relief you need to live a comfortable, pain-free lifestyle, or when foot or ankle conditions are deemed a little more serious.