SURGERY FOR ONLY FEW PROFESSIONALS RESERVED FOR HIGHLY SPECIALIZED CENTRES

The Clinica San Francesco decided for a long time to deal with development of this specialization branch and today is a reference center for clinical records and state of the art of procedure. Indeed the minimally invasive procedures have been developed in cooperation with international centers.

The following diseases are treated:

• post-traumatic cartilaginous or degenerative diseases charged to astragalar cupula and corresponding tibial surface.
• capsulo-ligamentous reconstruction with arthroscopic procedures (introducing by small incisions a mini-tube equipped with a videocamera that allows to watch enlarged on screen the various inner joint structures) or mixed arthroscopic and open for acute and chronic instability using, if possible, reabsorbable materials.
• tibiotarsal fractures, using all the technical options available (dedicated and angular stability plates, mini-fixators, reabsorbable or high biocompatibility materials, as titanium, et cetera).
• arthrodesis (joint blocking) or ankle replacement in case of serious surface arthrosic degeneration; the applications of this kind of procedure are for the moment limited although the outcomes are encouraging.

Preparation to the operation

A successful ankle operation requests a path of clinical and instrumental diagnostic, sometimes elaborated (RX-TAC 3D-RNM). In ankle operations the specialized surgeons cooperate with physiotherapists to prepare the patient for the operation.

This permits to carry out a more effective operation and prepares patient for a greater postoperative recovery which, depending on seriousness of disease, can be very short: in many cases the patient can start walking after few days from operation. In case of osteochondral or ligamentous complex operations the recovery can last on average from 4 to 6 weeks.

Postoperative antalgic treatment

In postsurgical phase the patient is followed by an anesthetist who takes care of prevention and treatment of prosthetic painful symptomatology, turning to the most innovative procedures (selective block of nervous branch, peridural tubes, continuous administration of analgesic minidoses, et cetera) and the use of state of the art drugs.