Intermediate Column Fusion Plate, Titanium

Foot surgeons think of the midfoot in columns. The medial column carries the first ray, the lateral column the outer two, and between them the intermediate column — the second and third rays — forms the stiff central beam of the foot. When the tarsometatarsal joints are injured or arthritic, fusing this central beam restores the midfoot's stable core, and the plate that does it must span the joint line without crowding the narrow dorsal anatomy.

The Lisfranc joint complex is unforgiving to poor fixation: even a small residual step or persistent motion at these joints leads to painful arthritis. A dedicated column plate therefore holds the prepared surfaces compressed and immobile, bridging the tarsometatarsal joints of the second and third rays until bone unites them. The extent of the fusion — which joints to include — is decided by the operating surgeon from the injury pattern or the arthritis distribution.

At fixation the involved joints are prepared and opposed, and the plate is centred on the dorsum of the middle column, spanning the tarsometatarsal joint line of the second and third rays. Compression across each joint is established and the plate is then fixed to the cuneiforms or cuboid and to the metatarsal bases with the screws of the matching foot system. Provisional K-wires hold the reduction while alignment is verified under the image intensifier. The joints to be fused, the reduction and the screw plan are determined by the operating surgeon.

The plate follows the original system design in contour and hole geometry, so the screws and instruments of the corresponding surgical technique fit directly. BoneCraft stocks the line for both feet, and wholesale orders can combine it with the medial column plate, the single-joint plates and the screws of the same foot system in one shipment.