Eric Gassy's Right Foot

Photograph of right foot three months after metatarsal amputation. Only the middle toe had osteomyelitis but all five toes were amputated with their skin. The skin around the toes was viable and should have been preserved and used to make flaps to close the wound. The large open wound was susceptible to infection. At the surgeon's direction, gauze swabs were being placed on the wound under the dressing. Each time the dressing was changed, tissue which had grown into the gauze would be ripped out, undoing any healing which had occurred since the last change in dressing. The surgeon claimed he could determine the wound was necrotic from this photograph and wanted to perform further surgery. I disagreed with this assessment and managed the wound conservatively with general hygiene and would protection. The would has subsequently healed without the use of dressings or antibiotics, proving it could not have been necrotic as claimed by the surgeon.