See video here.
A two-day joint course was launched at Medical University–Varna, targeted at postgraduate students, young physicians and specialists in Orthopaedics and Traumatology with a keen interest in Ankle and Foot Surgery. Organisers of the event are MU-Varna, which as a host provides its state-of-the-art facilities for the seminars and hands-on sessions of the course, the Bulgarian Foot and Ankle Society (BGFAS), the German Society of Ankle and Foot Surgery and the Balkan Foot and Ankle Society (BAFAS). Guest lecturers are prominent specialists from Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia and Switzerland.
The forum is comprehensive and, in addition to lectures, it also includes a practical part in which course participants can benefit from the opportunity to experiment with new techniques on training models. On the first day of the course, a video conference was established between MU-Varna and the operating theatre of the Clinic of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at UMHAT “St. Marina", where teams of the Clinic performed a real-time surgery on a patient with a multiple ankle joint fracture following a road accident.
Speaking to journalists, the Rector of MU-Varna and Head of the Clinic of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at UMHAT “St. Marina" Prof. Dr. Dimitar Raykov, DSc specified that Ankle and Foot Surgery being an independent speciality in Orthopaedics is the newest and fastest growing in the world. Globally, there is an increasing number of patients seeking help because of ankle and foot problems, with complaints ranging from pain, discomfort when walking to impaired working capacity or deteriorated quality of life. Prof. Raykov highlighted that the foot is a complex organ and in order to illustrate most accurately the sensations that can follow in case of problems in this area of the human body, he summarised, “If you want to forget your everyday issues, just put on uncomfortable shoes. The pain generated in the ankles and feet is so intense that it can affect the overall mental, physical and emotional balance of a person."
“High heels, immobilization and excess weight are serious factors that can trigger ankle and foot problems," added the Chairperson of the Bulgarian and Balkan Foot and Ankle Societies Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Katsarov. He specified that women suffer more frequently from such problems, with the ratio to men being 1 to 10. The surgeon was explicit that the constant wearing of high heels over 7 cm is risky and extremely detrimental to the feet. According to the specialist, in Bulgaria, apart from the emergency cases of fractures and injuries, the most common procedure is the removal of the so-called “knuckle" of the toe.
“In Bulgaria, people are really scared when it comes to scheduled surgeries in the foot and ankle area - for example, painful flatfoot, or a protruding knuckle," pointed out Assoc. Prof. Katsarov. According to him, this is due to the outdated way of understanding. According to the expert, in modern medicine, the recovery of patients is extremely fast, without prolonged wearing of a plaster bandage, without bed rest, with the help of new types of splints and shoes.
The recommendation of Prof. Dr. Yuri Stalc from Slovenia is that people should not delay treatment in case of ankle and foot problems. “The longer a problem in the human body is neglected, the more the pathology worsens and treatment solutions become more complicated," the specialist stressed.
The doctors commented further that the distortion of the foundation on which the entire body stands is carried upward and leads to problems with joints and vertebrae. There are cases of elderly patients who have been walking incorrectly for years, and consequently their knee and hip joints are already worn out. The experts were unanimous that people should be aware of these problems, they need to pay serious attention to them and take timely measures to avoid complications.
According to recent studies, the cases of foot deformity in very young people, mainly girls, including 8-10 years old, have been increasing over the past few years. One of the reasons for this is joint hypermobility, but in general it is not clear why these problems occur. Assoc. Prof. Katsarov explained that research is currently being done all over Europe on the occurrence of this problem, as it affects not only Bulgarian young people.
