Arthritis
Arthritis is a chronic health disorder that causes inflammation and degeneration in the joints of the body. This condition is common in your foot joints, often as a result of age-related changes or a lifetime of joint pressure caused by your body weight and physical activities. Fractures, dislocations, inflammatory diseases, and congenital deformities can all cause arthritis in the foot and ankle. The foot and ankle joints most commonly affected by arthritis are:
- The joint between the shinbone (tibia) and ankle bone (talus)
- The three joints of the foot that include the heel bone, the inner mid-foot bone, and the outer mid-foot bone
- The joint of the great toe and foot bone
Types of Arthritis
- Osteoarthritis: Also called degenerative joint disease, this is the most common type of arthritis and occurs most often in the elderly. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage starts to wear away over time. In extreme cases, the cartilage can completely wear away, leaving nothing to protect the bones in a joint, causing bone-on-bone contact. Bones may also bulge, or stick out at the end of a joint (bone spurs).
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: This is an auto-immune disease in which the body’s immune system (the body’s way of fighting infection) attacks healthy joints, tissues, and organs. It can cause pain, stiffness, swelling, and loss of function in the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis mostly affects the joints of the hands and feet and tends to be symmetrical. This means the disease affects the same joints on both sides of the body (both feet) at the same time and with the same symptoms.
- Post-traumatic Arthritis: Arthritis that develops following an ankle or foot injury is called post-traumatic arthritis. The condition may develop years after the trauma such as a fracture, severe sprain or ligament tears.
Diagnosis
During the evaluation, Dr. Bui will review your medical history and examine your foot. They assess your range of motion and identify areas of pain and swelling. To confirm that your pain is caused by arthritis rather than a fracture or other injury, your provider will use in house X-ray technology to examine the inner structures of your joint. X-rays can also detect bone spurs, which may be contributing to your pain. A bone scan, computed tomography (CT) scans, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are also used to diagnose arthritis.
Treatment
Non-surgical treatment options for foot and ankle arthritis include:
- Medications (anti-inflammatories)
- Injections (steroids)
- Physical therapy
- Ankle-foot orthosis (AFO)
- Weight loss
- Orthotics such as pads or arch supports
- Canes or braces to support the joints
Surgery
Surgery may be required to treat foot and ankle arthritis if your symptoms do not improve with conservative treatments. They may include:
- Arthroscopic Surgery: a surgical procedure during which an arthroscope – a narrow lighted fiber-optic tube with a camera attached – is inserted into the joint through a keyhole incision. The arthroscope provides Dr. Bui with a large real-time image of the injury on a monitor for clear a view. The internal structures of the joint are examined for diagnosis and Dr. Bui can treat the problem as well with small surgical instruments passed through 2 – 3 small incisions. Dr. Bui uses probes, forceps, knives, and shavers to clean the joint area of foreign tissue, inflamed tissue or bony outgrowths (spurs). Once the surgery is complete, the incisions are closed.
- Arthroplasty or Joint Replacement: In this procedure, Dr. Bui removes the damaged joint and replaces it with an artificial implant. It is usually performed when the joint is severely damaged by osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or post-traumatic arthritis. The goal of joint replacement is to relieve pain and restore its normal function.