|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Dr. Fernando Aran is a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon based in the Kendall area.
He has been treating Spanish and English-speaking patients for more than 10 years. Many of his patients are part of the 25 percent of the population in the U.S. that suffers from a progressive and painful bone deformity known as a bunion.
The condition is caused by unstable bones in the foot that shift, causing the big toe to drift out of alignment. Many patients do not seek treatment until pain becomes severe.
For more than 30 years, bunion treatment involved a procedure where surgeons shave down the protruding bone on the side of the foot without addressing the deformity’s cause.
Patients faced a long and painful recovery process with a high risk that their bunion would return.
“For years and years we’ve had over 100 different ways to take care of a bunion, and what that usually tells you is you don’t totally understand the problem,” Dr. Aran said. “Where I trained for my fellowship we were on the forefront, trying to understand the bunion and what was really causing the deformity, and really one of the big things we came across is that there’s only three genetic variations of one of the joints in the middle, the tarsal-metatarsal joint is the name of that particular joint, and while everybody focuses on the bump on the inside part of the foot, with the bunion the deformity really starts more in the midfoot and only patients that have a single facet, meaning that the joint is less stable, are the ones who form the bunions.”
Dr. Aran recently began treating patients with a procedure that uses titanium plates to move and secure the unstable bones in the foot so they are properly aligned. This addresses the root cause of the bunion and reduces the risk of its recurrence.
“If we go to the source of that deformity, then really we can address it and maybe decrease the recurrence rates and some of the complications that happened,” Dr. Aran said. “With the original procedure you couldn’t let your patient put weight on their foot for about six weeks. Sixteen was kind of the traditional teaching. The nice thing with lapiplasty is you can let them bear weight much quicker now. I let my patients put all of their weight on their foot at about 10 days post-op.”
He said that his procedure also reduces the pain in the lesser toes. Dr. Aran has done the procedure about 80 times so far, most as outpatient care in a surgical center, but in a hospital when needed.
He received his Orthopedic Surgery training at Wake Forest Baptist Health Center in Winston Salem, NC. After residency, he attended Duke University for his Foot and Ankle Fellowship in Durham, NC.
For information visit www.miamiboneandjoint.com.
ABOUT US:
For more Miami community news, look no further than Miami Community Newspapers. This Miami online group of newspapers covers a variety of topics about the local community and beyond. Miami’s Community Newspapers offers daily news, online resources, podcasts and other multimedia content to keep readers informed. With topics ranging from local news to community events, Miami’s Community Newspapers is the ideal source for staying up to date with the latest news and happenings in the area. Additionally, the newspaper has exclusive Miami community podcasts, providing listeners with an in-depth look into Miami’s culture. Whether you’re looking for local Miami news, or podcasts about the community, Miami’s Community Newspapers has you covered.
