Big Toe Arthritis: Great Toe Joint Fusion With a Plate and Screws Animation

Big Toe Arthritis: Great Toe Joint Fusion With a Plate and Screws Animation

This surgical animation shows a big toe fusion for the treatment of big toe arthritis. Here we have a left foot. The big toe joint will be bent to expose the joint surfaces of the foot bone and toe bone.

A reamer is used to drill a small tunnel into the foot bone and remove the cartilage from the joint surface. The same steps are repeated for the toe bone. The big toe joint is then straightened, and a small metal pin is inserted across the toe joint to maintain the alignment of the big toe.

A metal plate is then placed on top of the bones of the big toe joint, and temporarily held in place with two ball headed pins. Next, a drill is used to create a socket into the toe bone, and a screw is inserted to attach the metal plate to the bone. This step is repeated two more times to insert two more screws into the toe bone to hold the metal plate in place. At this time, one of the ball-headed pins will be removed.

The drill is then used to create a socket into the foot bone. A compression tool is inserted into the socket and the other ball-headed pin is removed. The compression tool is turned clockwise to compress the foot bone and toe bone together. Once the new alignment is achieved, the ball-headed pin is reinserted through the metal plate to maintain the compressed position of the big toe joint.

A drill is then used to create a socket into the foot bone, and a screw is inserted to attach the metal plate to the bone. The ball-headed pin is then removed and the screw is inserted further to apply more compression. Two more screws are then inserted into the foot bone to hold the metal plate in place.

After the plate is secured, a screw is inserted on top of the small metal pin across the two bones to further compress and stabilize the toe joint. The small metal pin is then removed and the procedure is complete.