Damaged Tendon During Bunionectomy Lawsuit

This foot surgery medical malpractice claim was filed in Anne Arundel County after a woman's tendon was negligently cut during an operation to remove a bunion. This lawsuit was filed in Health Claims Arbitration on March 26, 2018, and it is the 141^st medical malpractice case filed in Maryland this year.

After undergoing a procedure to remove a bunion (bunionectomy), a woman's foot failed to heal properly. At the time of her postoperative follow-up appointment, she was continuing to experience pain and discomfort. The woman told her podiatrist that she was concerned with the way the bunionectomy was healing. She felt that her toe was overcorrected, causing discomfort and frequent falls.

The podiatrist determined that he had lacerated the woman's flexor tendon during surgery, which caused the joint in her toe to contract. The woman had a corrective surgery performed at Union Memorial Hospital by another surgeon.

Legal and Medical Implications of Hallux Varus After Bunion Surgery

When a patient ends up with hallux varus after a bunionectomy, it is usually a sign that something went wrong during the surgery. Hallux varus is not a common outcome. It often means the surgeon was too aggressive in trying to correct the bunion, which can throw off the natural alignment of the big toe. In this case, the podiatrist cut the flexor tendon, which caused the toe joint to contract and led to ongoing pain and instability. That is not just a bad result—it is a preventable injury.

From a legal standpoint, this kind of complication raises serious questions about how the surgery was performed and whether the surgeon met the standard of care. It is not just the tendon laceration that matters. A strong malpractice claim often involves multiple layers of failure. Here, the records suggest the podiatrist never documented any conservative treatment options before deciding on surgery. That is a problem. Before operating, doctors should always consider less invasive treatments, especially for something like a bunion.

There is also the issue of what happened after the surgery. The patient told her doctor something was not right. She reported pain, discomfort, and problems with balance. But there is no indication the doctor moved quickly to investigate those concerns. By the time the damage was diagnosed, the tendon had already retracted, which made the injury harder to repair. That kind of delay can have long-term consequences for a patient’s recovery and quality of life.

On top of all that, we also have to consider informed consent. Was the patient properly warned about the risks of overcorrection? Was she told about the possibility of tendon damage or deformity? If not, that is another angle where liability may come into play.

The big picture here is that this was not just a one-time mistake in the operating room. The entire course of care, from the decision to operate, to the way the surgery was performed, to the failure to respond when the patient raised concerns, points to negligence. When you see that kind of breakdown across multiple stages of care, it tells you that the standard of care was not met, and the patient paid the price.

• The claimant's expert witness, another podiatrist, notes that there was no documentation of conservative care options before the bunionectomy took place. This is significant because doctors should attempt to treat their patients with less dramatic and less invasive forms of care before recommending surgery.
• Hallux valgus, the medical term for a bunion, is a bony bump on the base joint of the big toe. Bunions develop when the big toe is pushed toward the next toe, causing the joint at the base of the big toe to stick out.
• When the podiatrist "overcorrected" the woman's bunion, he caused a hallux varus deformity. Opposite to hallux valgus, hallux varus occurs when the big toe to shifts in the other direction, away from the next toe.
• You might have expected a claim that Plaintiff's malpractice lawyers alleging that the podiatrist deviated from the standard of care for podiatric surgeons not just by lacerating the tendon but for the failure to timely diagnose and secure prompt treatment for the ruptured hallux tendon. A delay in prompt diagnosis and treatment allows the tendon to retract. This and makes a good recover recovery more unlikely.

• Anne Arundel County

• A podiatrist
• The Chesapeake Ambulatory Surgery Center, LLC
• Foot and Ankle Specialists of the Mid-Atlantic, LLC

• Union Memorial Hospital

• Failing to perform an appropriate bunionectomy without damaging the tendon.

• As a direct result of the defendants' negligence, the claimant suffered severe, painful, and permanent injuries which caused her to incur medical expenses and loss of income.

• Philip J. Obiedzinski, DPM, podiatric medicine and foot & ankle surgery

Have you suffered a hospital injury due to the negligence of a doctor? Miller & Zois can help you. Call us at (800) 553-8082 and speak to one of our medical malpractice attorneys who can help you or get an online case review.

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