1. Community
  2. Bones, joints and muscles
  3. Orthopaedic Disorders

Broke little toe in developing country, is it common that reduction by doctor fails?

Posted , 3 users are following.

Joost
Joost

I broke my little toe in a developing country and went to a (by this country's standards) good clinic. They made an X-ray and concluded it is a closed angulated fracture of the 5th proximal phalanx. The doctor seemed unsure about the choice whether to try to perform reduction, as she said it does not always have an effect. I said it was up to her and then she did try (after local anesthesia injection). This ultimately failed to reduce the angle of the fracture though.

I am wondering if this is really a common outcome and if this will hurt me in the long run. It will cost me significant effort to fly to a more developed country on short notice to have the procedure performed again so if there is no point then I will avoid it, but of course if it means the fracture is likely to heal better afterwards then I will.

Quality of healthcare here is quite low on average and it's hard for me to estimate if this procedure normally fails and is just accepted as 'not a big deal'.

I've included the X-ray of the broken toe

Thank you for any replies!

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Joost
    Joost

    Posted

    Sorry I just realized there is a more suited subforum for this. I cannot find the delete button here but I will post it there and this post can be removed.
  • AlexandriaGizmo
    AlexandriaGizmo Joost

    Posted

    Hi don't know where you are but most places would strap it up and let heal, unusual to have any form of op on toes or fingers, I have mallet fracture on my finger and no op just a splint on it hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction

    • Joost
      Joost AlexandriaGizmo

      Posted

      That would be true in most cases where the bone is still in the normal position but the bone is displayed in this case, for which there is a procedure called reduction.
    • Joost
      Joost

      Posted

      I meant displaced*. And why on earth is there no edit function on this forum?
    • AlexandriaGizmo
      AlexandriaGizmo Joost

      Posted

      Because they like to see us write gobble de gook, yes displaced is the reason it may need surgery but it needs to be set pretty soon to make sure it heals correctly, delays will hinder it, so when is it being checked again
Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.