New techniques employed at WVU Medicine make use of the latest technology to correct the long-time bane of the human foot: bunions.

Nov. 7, 2018 – Dr. Robert Santrock, chief of foot and ankle surgery at West Virginia University Medicine, was featured in an article and accompanying video on WVNews.com about Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction™. Dr. Santrock noted that, until recently, surgical correction of a bunion involved either shaving off the bump or cutting and shifting the bones so it can look like the bump went away.  Neither approach addresses the root cause of bunions, which is an unstable joint toward the middle of a patient’s foot.

The Lapiplasty® Procedure involves realigning the bones back into their natural position in all three dimensions and permanently securing the unstable joint; drastically reducing the chance of recurrence. Unlike traditional surgical methods, which can require patients to be off their feet for six to eight weeks, Dr. Santrock has his Lapiplasty® patients walking in a boot right after surgery.