Fusions

When the cartilage within a joint wears away, the two bones either side of the joint begin to rub against each other causing pain. The goal of fusion surgery is to join (fuse) these bones together permanently. By doing this, the joint is gone and with it, much of the pain that was arising from it. However, as the joint essentially no longer exist, there will be no movement possible at this ‘joint’ anymore. The neighboring joints will still function well and move, but may, with time, take on more stress as a result of the nearby fusion. The joints most commonly requiring fusion are the toe and ankle joints, although the subtalar, talonavicular, and tarso-metatarsal (TMT) joints are also frequent sites for this surgery.