Question
My son broke his foot last Monday and I have been to 2 er drs and 1 pa for a pedia orth. 2 of the bones are displaced and I am very concerned that his foot will not heal properly. The 1st dr put him in a boot. The ortho pa put him in a 2nd boot and told him to start walking on it. After walking on it 1 day his foot became very bruised and so we went to Cook's er yesterday where the oncall dr put him in a shoe cast. I am not comfortable with any of these treatments. He is only 8 and cannot sit still for 5 minutes. He is wiggling his toes and moving his foot even in the cast shoe. Should I ask the ortho to put a full cast on his foot - can they even do that. The ortho pa says it will heal fine but I hear other terrible stories. She also said they could not do surgery to fix the displacements because of the growth plate. Sorry to write so much - I am just really worried.

Answer
Hi Shelia,

It is true that surgery on the metatarsal could be an issue with the growth plate.  However, in severe fractures surgery may still be indicated.  Not seeing the fracture, it would be hard to make a call.  I would seek another opinion and see if they think a full cast is needed. Many kids do heal well even with simple immobilization.

Sincerely,

Marc Katz, DPM
Tampa, FL
Advanced Podiatry
http://www.thetampapodiatrist.com
http://www.tampacryosurgery.com
http://www.notoenailfungus.com

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