Mid foot fusion advice needed

Hi Sarah.n, I'm curious to hear if you have spoken to your doctor about the pain when you put your full weight on it. I think that it should be normal but just to be sure, have you spoken to your doctor or the surgeon?

Hi All -

I know it's been awhile since you all have posted. How is everyone doing 6 months or so later?

I will be having navicular fusion August 6th, 2009. I dislocated the bones in a car crash and had one surgery to repair it 2 years ago. I am walking now but with much pain as arthritis has set in the joint, thus the need for the fusion.

Did you find that physical therapy helped? Are you happy you completed the surgery? I am worried about the stress this may have on the other joints in my foot, but at this point 10 weeks non weight bearing is ok versus a lifetime of pain each step I take. My Surgeon did an ankle replacement on a friend’s father and now his father is riding bikes, and getting around well. I trust him, just not looking forward to the surgery.

Hi all,

Well it has been 5 months now, heading onto 6 since i had my mid foot fused. I was in a wheelchair non-weight bearing for 3 months, then walking in a boot for a few weeks, then trying in shoes. After a month trying to walk in shoes i am back in the boot. Im getting pain in the midfoot region, and the top of my ankle. I told my doctor ive had no improvement for a month, and he told me to go back into the boot. I will be seeing him in mid august, so i hope he has an answer then. He was a bit worried that i hadn't seen improvement for a month. Sarah it seems that we are in a similar situation. I too have trouble putting full weight on it, going through the full walking motion, and flexing my ankle or toes. I actually think im in a worse situation that before had surgery.

Guest, i would really think hard about the surgery before having it done. As you can see it doesn't always work the way you would hope. I know arthritis is bad, but this is worse.

I think it's awful that things haven't gone well for you and I think it must be really frustrating. I'm glad to hear that you've got a good attitude about it because that really is key to helping you cope with the situation but unfortunately it sounds like you are having a difficult time. I wish nothing but the best for you. How are things going for you otherwise?

How are things going otherwise???

Wrong question to ask...

My car was written off by an asian taxi driver. (i still haven't got they money to repair the car)
I can't lose the weight i gained while in the chair cause i can't do any exercise (this has a lot of flow on effects)
Im about to lose my job because HP bought our company and thinks our site is too expensive (so i may lose my home)
and i still can't walk properly, or even think about dancing......

All of which is caused by or made worse by the injury to my foot. Not many people realise the implications of a serious foot injury.

For those of you curious of lisfranc fusion. I've recently had my 3 mets fused with my 3 cuneiform and navicular because of a stupid fall I had where I tore a ligament between the first two mets. I was misdiagnosed with a sprain, when about two weeks later, i was sent to have an x ray because the pain was still there.

They found a dislocation roughly 2mm between the 1st and 2nd mets. I went and saw a ortho surgeon who told me that fusion was my best bet. He was a Foot and ankle specialist. I went ahead and had the surgery on june 4th and had about a 6 week recovery process with no weight placed on it.

I cheated and start about the 5th week into recovery and started walking on my foot. I had little pain still, but noticed the pain had totally disappeared from between my 1st and 2nd mets. The fusion worked and eliminated all the pain.

My foot is fused, and there is no more bending mid foot which makes it difficult to get the extra push--but it just takes some getting used to. The screws are staying in permanently because it is a fusion; no more movement in those joints.

Today, I walk pain free and have no trouble walking for hours at a time. I might walk with a slight limp, only noticeable when I am bare foot. I can walk on my bare feet on hardwood floor with no pain. I do find running to be a bit more difficult because I no longer have that extra push in my foot.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with my midfoot fusion because my everyday life has returned back to normal. I barely even notice my foot anymore and have resumed my normal life since the accident. I'm am truly blessed to be able to walk again without any pain. I am only two months post operation feel as though the surgery has made a huge difference. I know I am still recovering and will be start PT withing the next month. I am twenty five which may be why I am recovering so well.

I walk around the with flip flops on too! It's summer! haha

I would say, i can do 90% of my everyday things with no serious hindrance. Good luck to all those who need or considering this option.

Hello there. I hope I can help you out. I had a bad fall 3/08 and had a 5mm lisfranc. I did the ORIF and there whole non wt. bearing for 12 weeks. Needless to say I was in pain like you are now for the whole time. Hated life. I had mid foot fusion on 12/29/08 and have not refreted it one bit. My foot is a bit stiffer then before, but there are really some days i don't even notice it. As for your age of 26-- well I am 36 and was told that the mid foot is very imobile as it is. When you have a lisfranc injury you upset the imobilty part and you have made it too loose.
I run, jump, mow the law, play softball and do about 85% of the activities tat I use to do. Do some internet research on midfoot fusion and make our own informed choice. I hope you become pain free and happy again. I say this, because I know how you feel. I WAS THERE TOO.

Good to hear Deano73 that things turned out pretty well for you too. I do agree with you about getting back to about an 85% normal use of the foot again. I think we can both now agree that getting the fusion surgery done was probably the best thing we could have done for such an injury as we all have here.



I hope all the others getting fusion done also have a good outcome and are able to get back to close to normal of a life again.

Unfortunately I had my fusion in Feb 2009, and I'm in a worse situation that before. My accident was in Sep 2007, and we tried non-operative which didn't work. I still can't do most things I used to enjoy, but I guess you just have to get on with life.

Helo Sara and everyone in the same boat. The last 3 years i have had a wonderful surgeon trying to repair what a lot of doctors did not do in a small town. Eight years prior if 1 of them would of had done was take a simple x-ray to see that something was wrong and it possibly could have been prevented. Instead I was given everthing from Tylenol 3 to morphine. (by the way I won't take anything unless the pain is so bad you can't stand). Drugs weren't the answer! I finally begged one of my local doctors to send me into the city to see a foot specialist and she agreed. Within 2 months I had my first surgery and that helped greatly! A year later it turned out 2 more joints needed to be fused however for why we can't understand it did not heal. So I am going back in again this October. My doctor has asked for ever test to be done and knowing that he is trying evey possible thing to make sure this time it heals I can't thank him enough for trying to get me walking at my best. I will be 47 this year so this has also been a long road. I hope everything heals for you as I know the pain you are going trough.

Hi Everyone, That was interesting to read.

I 'm supposed tohave hindfoot fusion. I'm most afraid of the Non wt bearing after surgery. How do you walk with only one fool?/...and get up from toiltet? I'm so weak !

I am 47 years old, and try to be as active as I can. Today is my appointment with the third orthopedic podiatrist surgeon about BOTH of my feet. Oct. 2005, I had a horseback riding accident where the horse lunged into a split rail fence, causing a lisfrancs fracture in my right foot, along with several other ligament and joint injuries. Okay, now for the really good part - 4 surgeries to "fix" this foot. One to fuse all the metatarsil joints with 2 LONG screws. Months in a cast, then boot, then PT - only to continue the pain and problems. So, the screws start working themselves out. Another doctor removes the screws (which have broken into two pieces by this point). Then I continue to be in pain, go to another "specialist" farther away. Foot hasn't healed, more screws needed. Another surgery. Months go by, same deal all over again. Screws work themselves out - had the same doctor remove them. Custom orthotics, expensive shoes, etc. Still in pain, but tolerable. About 3 months ago, my left foot feels like it is broken. Hurts alot on the top of the mid foot. Go to the on-call orthopedic doctor, only to find out it isn't broken, but my arch has collapsed. Sends me to their group orthopedic podiatrist. He said the left foot obviously suffered a similar injury to the right foot and needs fusion. He also says the screws should NOT have worked themselves out if the right foot had properly healed!! So after my left foot has surgery, I need to have the right foot fused again!!! Let's get a CT scan and get back together to discuss surgery options. Now today, I find your postings. I am thinking I'll just skip the surgery, wear my Dansko sandals ALL THE TIME, and forget about any more surgical intervention. I have arthritis everywhere all ready, knees, ankles, hips, etc. So, my threshold for pain is already pretty high. I think I'll just take my Aleve (2 pills) twice a day when I am hurting and go back to sleep. I don't want to go through all of this again.

Hi Everyone,


My name is Patrick and I am a 23 year old guy from NC. In good shape and was active until my initial LisFranc injury. I had my first fusion nov 2009 involving the first three meta tarsals. After my large incision spliting wide open after my stitches were taken out I had a horrible time recovering in the months that followed the surgery. Because of the severe level of pain I was experiencing the doctors decided to re x-ray my foot to see if something was causing the terrible pain. Turns out my big toe fusion site had not fused and the doctors determined they would have to "revise" the surgery.

The second surgery was in early August 2010 and involved only the removal of a few pieces of hardware(mostly screws and the moving of a plate) and the fusion of that meta tarsal. I am closing in on 8 months post opand still am in a lot of pain. So much so that I see a pain management doctor and am prescribed pain medicine.

I have had x-rays and a ct scan both of which have confirmed that the fusion had healed totally. I am nearly at my wits end and wonder if it would have been better not to have done the 2 surgeries and just lived with the bad arthritis I had before.

Hi Sarah and others,

I am suppose to get my mid foot fusion next week and I am kind of considering not doing it after all the horrible things I'm reading. I wanted to check and see how you are doing at this stage (5 months)? Can you hike or run at all. Are you glad you went forward with the surgery? Thanks!

U guys, I need some advice!!! I fell and injured my foot @ work, which resulted in a lisfranc inury. This accident happened on January 15, 2011. Soon therefafter I found out my husband and I were expecting a baby girl!! Too much time on my hands, I guess!!! LOL!!! Anyway, I had my baby in October, which the surgeon was waiting on, and still no surgery due to workers' compensation. I was originally told I had a 4th and 5th metatarsal break, which required no surgery. I had been seeing a physician's assistant the entire time of my visits; which were from Jan.- Mar.'11. Of course, never actually being seen by the Dr. himself, I had xrays over and over, and still it was told to me I had a 4th and 5th metatarsal break. Well, in March during one of my visits, my husband demanded to see the actual Dr., so as he came in of course my shoes were off, and his eyes got as large as they had probably ever been! He goes and grabs several different medical books, some online information, and then tells me I have a Lisfranc injury! At the end of my visit, after being out of a cast for approximately a month, he recasts me! He tried to tell me I would never be able to do the same kind of work again, and that was life was going to drastically change! Can u imagine the pain and disgust I must have felt! I had never seen this man before, and he's telling me pretty much that my life is over! I was 29 yrs. old when my accident happened, almost a year ago now. I am waiting on approval from worker's comp., and of course they decide they want to send me to get a 2nd opinion, before they pay for it. That's funny because I called them crying because I was in so much pain, and I wanted to have a 2nd opinion back in March and they told me no. I had to end up getting an attourney, to get a 2nd opinion, but I got 1. Thank God! I'm still waiting on approval, but I'm beginning to hear so much about possible problems after surgery, so I'm wondering now if I should go through with it, if it is gonna get worse! My baby is now 2 mos. and I'm thinking if I'm gonna do it, now's the time, huh? I'm in pain everyday, all day, but I'm able to cope with it. No choice either, huh? I just feel like I've been robbed of my entire life! The other Dr. is a foot and ankle specialist, and works on athletes and all kinds of people, but I'm not sure if he's more worried about the money or my health. He seems to really care, because he said that if the other would have done his job I wouldn't be in this situation now. He said he should have been operated on the date of injury, but because it wasn't it is permanent damage to my foot. What do I do?????? I am going crazy. I am back from maternity leave now as of Dec. 7th, on light duty, and I'm doing secretarial work, but it's better than nothing. I would like some pain relief and I have to wear a brace with these suppose to be custom-made shoes everyday, so I miss my shoes! I just wish this all  would go away. I need some advice, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!