Dr. Senatore and I got to celebrate with our patient who is now just shy of 3 months out from her procedure for severe refractory pain in the foot that occurred after a repair of a heel spur in the achilles tendon on the back of the ankle called a “Hagland’s deformity.”The patient had an operation performed elsewhere to remove this piece of bone, but she woke up from surgery with severe pain that unfortunately never improved. The pain started in the heel and ankle. After the original operation the patient continued to have pain in the posterior heel, and medial heel that extended into the arch of the foot with symptoms spreading all the way into the sole of the foot up the lateral aspect of the foot. Her scar was very sensitive to touch and wearing shoes with backs on them was hard to do.
We diagnosed her with a nerve injury to the calcaneal nerve – a nerve that specifically travels to the heel, as well as tarsal tunnel syndrome. However, she also was diagnosed with a persistent painful residual posterior heel spur in the Achilles tendon.
Dr. John Senatore removed the residual spur and repaired the Achilles, while I removed the small nerve that was stuck in her scar, and released the tarsal tunnel and the medial plantar, and lateral plantar nerves.
We celebrate with her about 10 weeks after surgery! She is 95% improved from her symptoms. We could not be more pleased! The severe hypersensitivity and pain is gone on the inner and posterior heel, and the sensation has returned to normal in the sole of the foot, and the large bump on the back of the heel that Dr. Senatore removed is gone! I call this a team win!!!