Avascular Necrosis (AVN), also called Freiberg’s Disease, Osteonecrosis, or Bone Infarction is the death of bone tissue due to interruption of the blood supply.
It usually occurs in the second metatarsal (the toe next to the big toe), but it can occur in the third or even fourth toes as well.
This injury causes the rounded end of the bone to flatten out and leads to a reduction or loss of blood flow to the toe. It is critically important to get this properly diagnosed properly and treated quickly and properly in children.
Dr. Bob Baravaria DPM, FACFAS is a Board-Certified Podiatric Foot and Ankle Specialist. He is an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and serves as Director of University Foot and Ankle Institute.
Dr. Baravarian has been involved in athletics his entire life and played competitive tennis in high school and college. He has an interest in sports medicine, arthritis therapy, and trauma/reconstructive surgery of the foot and ankle. He is also fluent in five languages (English, French, Spanish, Farsi, and Hebrew),