Whether To Stage Surgery: One Foot Or Two?

How to decide whether to stage surgery or not

One or Both Feet?

A frequent question from patients is whether they should stage their MICA bunion surgery or have both feet corrected at the same time. There are times when Mr Redfern will advise staging surgery for medical reasons but most of the time the decision is for the patient to decide. The information here may help decide what is best for you.

When undergoing any bunion correction surgery, it is very important to look after the foot / feet in the post-operative period and vital that the patient follow their surgeon’s instructions.

The bones always need to be protected for several weeks after surgery in order to allow them to heal sufficiently and minimise the chances of any problems occurring. Most patients have busy lives and some are better staging surgery whilst others probably better off having both corrected st the same time.

Advantages Of Staging Surgery:

  • It is much easier to cope with - Can still use the un-operated leg to protect the operated side

  • Use of crutches or other devices such as a kneel-on scooter can allow much earlier return to higher levels of activity including commuting and return to office work for some patients after 1-2 weeks

  • Likely to return to sports faster than after having both feet corrected

  • If happy with the results of one foot then more inclined to go ahead with same surgery on the other

  • If the bunion is mild on the other side then it may not progress enough to need surgery. Surgery should only be performed if a bunion is painful or very restrictive of footwear or activityAdvantage

Advantages Of One Stage Surgery (both feet at the same time):

  • Only the one episode of surgery - “get it over with in one go”

  • Only one period of time off work - although this may be a longer period of time than if staging surgery

  • Although there is no doubt that it is harder to cope after one stage surgery to both feet, Mr Redfern’s results show that the risks of surgery do not increase significantly. In other words, there is no difference in observed risks of MICA surgery which ever option the patient decides upon.