Foot complaints

The foot is an extremely complicated part of our body. Some even call it an "organ". If they function well and properly, we actually do not even notice our feet.

However, the slightest problem should be avoided. We all know how unpleasant a little stone in a shoe is, or how terribly oppressive or too small shoes are. You want to do everything you can to free your feet. Each of us knows that "harmless" foot problems such as corns, blisters caused by bad shoes or even nail suppurations can bother us much more than problems elsewhere.

Of course, even bigger foot problems cause us all the more complaints.

Why the feet are so dominant in diseases is explained by their exposed position and the small size of their "components": The delicate bones with the strong tendons have to withstand many times our body weight when accelerating walking or jumping and all structures are "crammed together" in a very small space, so that a problem often involves the neighbouring parts as well. The often underestimated biomechanics play an enormous role in the absorption of force (absorption of kinetic energy) and in rolling processes during walking.

During the developmental shaping of the foot, a compromise was made between small size and robustness for optimal function.

Treatment of foot complaints

Treating or even operating on the feet belongs first and foremost in the hands of an experienced specialist in orthopaedics and orthopaedic surgery. The support of orthopaedic technicians and master orthopaedic shoemakers is often necessary.

The practice often practised in large hospital departments of leaving simple forefoot operations to the youngest assistants unfortunately often takes its revenge, because there are no "simple" operations and any foot problem that is not adequately treated can have major consequences. For example, after unsuccessful hammer toe operations, malpositioning of the big toe can occur in the first place (hallux valgus), heel and metatarsal problems up to and including knee, hip and spine problems can occur.

International specialisation in the foot

In recent decades, the practice of specialising in the foot (there are even separate Foot and Ankle Universities that train specialists for foot medicine and foot surgery!), which has long been practised in the USA, has also been introduced in Europe, albeit to a much lesser extent. Foot societies and foot centres have emerged, which deal with the specialised treatment of foot problems. 

These specialists also train interested doctors in foot medicine.

My specialization

Following my own interests, I have been dealing with the diseases and treatments of the foot (besides the knee) for over 40 years.

In addition to scientific publications and after more than 3000 foot operations, this has resulted in the popular scientific book "Hilfe bei Fußschmerzen" (Help with Foot Pain), which was published in 2006 as a patient guide by Kneipp Publishers.

As I was not always very happy with the methods (described in great numbers in the scientific literature) for the treatment of forefoot problems such as hallux valgus, hammer toes and splayfoot problems, I began to develop technique modifications and my own new surgical techniques in 2003. Implants that were developed according to my ideas are now patented or registered trademarks (V-tek®) worldwide.

Since these techniques are now, after about 10.000 operations, very mature and can be offered to a broad public, I established an outpatient centre for foot surgery in my practice in Vienna-Meidling in October 2007. These new operations allow immediate loading of the operated foot without protruding wires.

For most patients, there is little swelling and little pain after the operation - also thanks to the new operations through the keyhole - so it is possible to offer these operations on an outpatient basis, i.e. without the need for an inpatient stay in hospital.

International interest and further education by Dr. Vitek

The medical interest in my surgical methods is very high. In 2007 alone, I was in England (London, Cambridge and Grantham), Spain (Salamanca), Russia (head of the master class for foot surgery in Tomsk) and Germany (Munich and Tuttlingen) several times to explain and teach my methods at congresses, seminars and workshops.

In spring 2008 I held the 1st V-tek Foot Surgery Course for Foot Surgeons at the Sigmund Freud Private University in Vienna, followed by further courses at the Institute of Anatomy at the Medical University of Vienna. In autumn 2008 I gave lectures and an extensive workshop (possibility for foot surgeons to practice the methods on the cadaver) at the College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, a university specialising exclusively in feet.

Further workshops and lectures took place in December 2008 in Munich at the German Foot Surgeons Congress of the GFFC and in March 2009 in Going at the international conference of the Austrian Society of Foot Surgery. Several publications of these methods have appeared in international journals.
Further invitations for lectures and foreign operations took me to many other European countries, the USA, Mexico, Argentina and Indonesia in the  following years. This was followed by professorships in Malta (at an unrecognised further education university) and in Mexico (at the very large, state-recognised Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, whose diplomas are recognised in the USA even without nostrification).

Lectures for specialists combined with surgical instructions on patients or on cadaveric feet, e-mail consultation of operating specialists based on x-rays and medical histories, as well as lectures and full-day seminars for patients have been part of our normal daily routine for years now.

Nevertheless, the development is never finished and the operations are constantly being improved based on the rich daily experience. Recently, we have been operating on almost all toe corrections, i.e. hallux valgus, hammer toes, tailor's bunion and splayfoot problems in a minimally invasive way, i.e. with the smallest possible incisions, which are actually just stitches or a few millimetres in size.

This is usually possible during initial operations, and must be considered and considered on a case-by-case basis for corrections after failed previous operations (which are assigned to us in increasing numbers) due to internal scarring.