Got painful bunions? Kelly John, D.P.M.’99, M.H.A.’99, FACFAS, DABPM, a podiatric physician at the Des Moines University Clinic – Foot and Ankle, can help. She is a Lapiplasty Centurion surgeon, meaning she has completed more than 100 Lapiplasty 3D bunion correction procedures. She achieved this status in January 2022 and has since doubled that case volume to more than 200 Lapiplasty cases.
Treace, the parent company of the patented Lapiplasty system, not only sells the product to foot and ankle surgeons but also provides intensive and ongoing training for the surgeons that use its products. This assures that the Lapiplasty surgeon fully understands the principles of the procedure and carries them out with the highest success rates.
Bunions, which affect an estimated 65 million Americans, are complex, three-dimensional deformities caused by an unstable joint in the middle of the foot. It causes the metatarsal bone that connects to the bones of the big toe to drift out of alignment, which then makes the big toe move toward the smaller toes. That creates a bump on the side of the foot that can make it painful to stand, walk and wear certain shoes.
Showing success: Dr. Kelly John took this photo right before operating on the bunion on this patient’s left foot. John had performed Lapiplasty surgery on the patient’s right foot three months earlier.
“Rather than just shaving off that bump, Lapiplasty starts with the unstable joint in the midfoot,” John says. “For most patients, its advanced technology allows for better outcomes, better straightness of big toe joint and greater longevity of the correction.”
Lapiplasty fixes bunions by bringing the bones back into alignment and stabilizing the metatarsal with patented, titanium plates. The advantages of using the Lapiplasty system over other bunion procedures include:
- Shorter non-weight bearing post-operative protocol and earlier return to weight bearing.
- Improved range of motion of the big toe joint after surgery as compared to traditional bunion surgery.
- Long-term correction and a very low rate of bunion recurrence.
That’s key, because as a bunion develops, the metatarsal “rolls” as it moves out of alignment. If it isn’t secured in place during surgery, the bunion can redevelop.
John began training on Lapiplasty procedures in 2019. While elective surgeries like bunion correction greatly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, she resumed the elective surgeries in 2021 and attended the first Lapiplasty Centurion Conference in 2022.
“The number-one criterion for bunion correction is pain, and the true test of the surgical correction is how well the deformity is corrected and maintained,” she says. “I’ve been really happy with the outcomes my patients have had with Lapiplasty surgery.”
If you suffer from a painful bunion, Dr. John can determine if the Lapiplasty procedure is right for you. Contact her at the DMU Clinic – Foot and Ankle at 3200 Grand Ave. in Des Moines at 515-271-1731.
