CASE AT A GLANCE
Foot Fracture / Chronic Pain

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Case Overview:

A 52 year old woman was involved in a motorcycle accident and the bike landed on her right foot. X-rays confirmed a comminuted, minimally displaced fracture of second metatarsal head, neck and shaft of her right foot. An open reduction and internal fixation was performed and completed without complication. She was told to remain non-weightbearing for an additional 6-8 weeks following their first follow up appointment, 1 week post op. She was seen the following week and she reported that she had multiple weightbearing falls since the week before. Films demonstrated intact hardware and maintained alignment of fracture. She was seen by a different physician a few months post op and they interpreted the films as a nonunion of the fracture. She underwent surgery to remove surgical hardware and the fracture was healed. There was no evidence of a nonunion. She complained of pain, numbness and stiffness in right foot after the fracture was fully healed. The defense experts explained that the complaints of pain were not caused by inappropriate insertion and/or placement of surgical plate or instrumentation, but that she suffered significant injury to her foot in the accident and that is more likely the cause of the continued pain. The jury found in favor of the defense.