Orthopedic surgery

Regain your mobility, enjoy moving again!

Welcome to our clinic specialized in orthopedic surgery in Nice, where restoring mobility and relieving pain are our priorities. The services offered here are at the forefront of orthopedic medicine and are designed to treat a wide range of conditions, from bone deformities to joint and muscle injuries.

Thanks to a team of highly qualified orthopedic surgeons, we are dedicated to providing top-quality orthopedic care, focused on the individual needs of each patient, whether related to an accident, a degenerative disease, or a congenital problem.

We are also proud of our advanced surgical techniques, which include prosthetic arthroplasty and minimally invasive procedures, ensuring high-quality care and effective rehabilitation. By combining expertise, innovation, and patient-centered care, we aim to improve the quality of life of all our patients by helping them regain mobility and comfort.

What is orthopedic surgery?

Orthopedics is a medical and surgical specialty concerning the prevention and correction of disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

It treats:

Initially, orthopedics focused on the prevention and correction of "deformities" of the body in children.

Orthopedics tends to evolve towards the hyperspecialization of orthopedic surgeons, who will focus on an area of expertise concerning a limb (upper limb, lower limb, spine, or vertebral column).

Some orthopedists will even become specialists of a single joint or limb segment (ankle and foot surgeon).

What is the difference between orthopedic and trauma surgery?

Traumatology involves the urgent management of injuries to the musculoskeletal system following a road accident, a domestic accident, or a sports injury.

The main injuries involved are:

The treatment of these injuries may be:

Orthopedic surgery is more focused on traumatic after-effects or degenerative pathologies, that is, wear and tear, such as osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the suffering of a joint due to a loss of cartilaginous substance. The cartilage acts like a shock absorber; in the case of significant cartilage lesions, there is an increase in bone pressure that can be painful.

The treatment of osteoarthritis can be medical:

The treatment can be surgical, known as conservative, meaning to preserve the painful joint by performing surgical procedures such as osteotomies allowing for axis corrections or joint decompressions.

Treatment may finally consist in replacing a joint by a prosthetic arthroplasty or a prosthesis. There are prostheses for the ankle, big toe, or metatarsophalangeal joint.

Orthopedic foot surgery

The study of the foot was neglected for a long time, probably due to its symbolic and psychological importance, and above all its "cultural weight." The foot was long considered a "poorly regarded" organ, hidden and disdained. The consequence of this neglect and lack of understanding was that the treatments for its many pathologies saw little progress until the middle of the twentieth century.

The complexity of the foot allows it to produce, in apparent simplicity, an infinite number of movements and natural tasks such as walking, running, and jumping.

It is a true sensory receptor, robust and deformable according to a tensegrity system. When one looks at a ballet dancer, grace and lightness immediately stand out, but we have no idea of the treatment the ballerina has subjected her feet to. All those years of training have made it possible to push back the limits imposed by the bones and soft tissues in order to rise onto pointe, or lock the ankle and foot on demi-pointe with the help of the flexor of the hallux.

The analysis of foot pathologies and their possible surgical treatment must take into account the morphology of the lower limbs, the patient's lifestyle, and their expectations in terms of results.

Foot surgery can be performed using minimally invasive and percutaneous surgical techniques in certain cases.

Foot Pathologies

Stiffness or retraction of the gastrocnemius muscles, which are the calf muscles, is very common in ankle and foot conditions.

These are pains in the sole of the foot at the base of the heel, which can be very disabling and are part of the posterior muscular chain retraction, of which the gastrocnemius are a part.

Hallux valgus, commonly called a "bunion," is a frequent reason for consultation. It can be congenital, juvenile, acquired, post-traumatic, or iatrogenic (caused by surgical intervention).

Hallux rigidus refers to osteoarthritis of the big toe. In more than 80% of cases, osteoarthritis of the big toe is due to a foot injury 10 to 15 years earlier. A long first metatarsal can increase joint pressure and promote the development of osteoarthritis.

This is the compression of a nerve in an intermetatarsal space, most often the 3rd space, that is, between the 3rd and 4th toes. The pain is neuralgic, with sensations of burning and electric shock, and may require removing shoes to massage the foot for relief.

This refers to pain in the plantar pads. They may occur on their own or be associated with other forefoot conditions such as hallux valgus.

This is a deformity of the lateral toes, which can be flexible or rigid and fixed, causing pain due to rubbing against shoes.

Orthopedic ankle surgery

Orthopedic ankle surgery is less frequently performed as a specialized procedure. It is a "mortise and tenon" system that is naturally stable in terms of bone structure, with a capsule reinforced by ligaments.

It works in synergy with the subtalar joint and is an integral part of the lower limb axis, which must always be considered in the treatment of injuries.

The ankle cartilage is thin but very robust; the painful decompensation of post-traumatic osteoarthritis after a fracture, or after chronic laxity due to a history of repeated sprains, can also be linked to joint hyperlaxity, and may occur 30 to 40 years later.

The treatment of osteoarthritis can be palliative by performing corrective tibial or calcaneal osteotomies.

Total ankle replacement can be a good alternative to arthrodesis when the ankle cannot be preserved.

Arthroscopic surgery techniques are now well developed for the treatment of ligament injuries of the ankle and osteochondral lesions.

Ankle pathologies

This refers to a posterior conflict between the shoe's counter and the calcaneal tuberosity. Changes in footwear habits can trigger pain.

They are common and we do not tolerate any displacement; our treatment is surgical in the vast majority of cases.

They are common during a return to intense sports after years of inactivity, often requiring the expertise of a specialized orthopedic surgeon for athletes. Treatment can be orthopedic or surgical. The re-rupture rate is lower after surgical treatment.

This can follow an ankle fracture, repeated sprains, or fit within the context of an inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. If the ankle is salvageable and if medical treatment fails, joint realignment procedures such as osteotomies can be considered.

If the ankle is not salvageable and medical treatment fails, prosthetic replacement may be proposed in certain cases as an alternative to arthrodesis (ankle fusion).

Orthopedic surgery in Nice

Orthopedic and trauma surgery is performed in Nice clinics and at the hospital at the Nice university hospital center, CHU Pasteur 2.

Orthopedic surgery is performed by several practitioners within the same clinic, who specialize in surgery of a limb (upper limb, lower limb, spine or vertebral column) or a joint.

Trauma surgery can be performed in a clinic when it is simple, that is, for injuries not associated with visceral, vascular, urological, or thoracic lesions.

High-energy trauma, concerning polytrauma or polyfracture patients, is managed at the university hospital (CHU), which has the necessary technical facilities with surgery that can be performed very quickly after the injury assessment and with all specialists available to intervene during the same procedure.

Doctor Michel Maestro

My associate and mentor, Doctor Michel Maestro, is a foot and ankle surgeon in Monaco at the IM2S clinic. He has developed surgical techniques for the forefoot, especially for hallux valgus. Together with Doctor Spennacchio, orthopedic surgeon in Luxembourg, we designed a surgical implant for hallux valgus correction, the Centrolock.

He is a member of the following scientific societies:

He is also:

Doctor Martin Schramm

I am a foot and ankle surgeon, member of the following scientific societies:

Orthopedic Surgery FAQ

Traumatology involves the management of urgent locomotor system injuries such as fractures, dislocations, and sprains.

Orthopedics involves the management of the aftereffects of traumatic injuries, as well as degenerative or wear-and-tear conditions.

You may consult an orthopedic surgeon if you have one or more bone, cartilage, ligament, tendon, muscle, or nerve injuries.

In the case of a locomotor system injury, initial management is started by your general practitioner.

If medical treatment fails or painful symptoms persist, your doctor can refer you to an orthopedist for further management.

A consultation lasts on average between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the complexity of your case. This allows our specialist to make an accurate diagnosis, review any imaging results, and discuss with you the treatment options best suited to your situation.

No, not all treatments require surgery. We prioritize conservative solutions first, such as braces, physiotherapy, injections, or medications. If these approaches are not sufficient, we offer surgical interventions tailored to each patient, using modern techniques such as minimally invasive surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery involves operating through small incisions, often under imaging guidance. This approach helps reduce postoperative pain, speeds up recovery, and minimizes scarring. It is particularly effective for conditions such as hallux valgus and more complex foot deformities.

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