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The response to the question below was authored by Marc Mitnick DPM

Extreme discoloration on bunionectomy scar

by Sally
(Santa fe NM)

I had a bunionectomy surgery about a year ago. I woke up a few days ago with exreme dicoloration on the scar area. A patch of bright pink and a larger area of deep, dark purple. There is a bit of burning, but no pain other than that. I did have a trauma to my foot, but that was over two weeks ago, and the discoloration suddenly appeared just recently. I realize the burning may be due to a nerve being pushed on, but what can create this type of discoloration?

Thank you for your help!

ANSWER

Hi Sally,

Well, assuming the surgical site was normal in color prior to the trauma, then turned pink then purple, one would have to assume that the trauma caused the problem. No great discovery there.
What occurs to me in my answer is that fact that when you have surgery, anywhere on the body, there is always damage done to the superficial veins that pass along just below the skin. This part of the foot in particular always has a vein or two that we have to deal with when we do bunion surgery.
In some cases the vein can be freed up, moved out of the way and preserved. In many other instances the vein is cut and cauterized and rendered useless. Yes, it does adversely affect the return circulation but in a very, very, small way.
So I would guess that the trauma you sustained may have hit a tied off vein directly head on and for that reason the immediate area turned colors. I would like to think this will be a self limiting situation and eventually the skin will return to a normal color.
You do not mention if there was any bleeding or if the trauma cut the skin in the area of surgery. If that did occur, then there is always the possibility of an infection forming although a year down the road from surgery, that would not seem very likely.
The best advice I can give you is after a few days, this condition still exists, go see your surgeon and get a pair of medical eyes on the sight to see if this is anything more serious than what I have described. If nothing else it will give you peace of mind.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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American Family Physician

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Extreme discoloration on bunionectomy scar

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