Foot and ankle surgeon brings military mindset of service, innovation to his patients

A rare expertise to restore foot and ankle function

Dr. Martin is one of the few surgeons in the nation skilled in arthroscopic procedures on the foot.

These can repair the small joints of the foot and ankle through the smallest of incisions, using tiny tools guided by an LED camera only 2 millimeters in size — smaller than a pencil eraser.

 Dr. Martin learned the arthroscopic technique while serving as an active-duty orthopedic surgeon in the U.S. Army, and now teaches it throughout Europe.

“Other people just don’t do it,” he explains. “They’re not that comfortable with cameras, let alone putting them inside your big toe or in the back of your ankle, or the other places that we’ve now made common practice at Ohio State.”

Dr. Martin also thinks outside the box and has joined others on the Orthopaedics staff to expand its commitment to research, says orthopedic surgeon Andrew Glassman, MD, chair of the Department of Orthopaedics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

“He has tremendous enthusiasm and energy that’s readily apparent in almost everything he does. And he’s an innovator, he’s always looking for ways to improve the way that we do things,” Dr. Glassman says.

Among Dr. Martin’s most recent innovations is a surgery designed for people confined to bed because their feet are contorted from nerve damage associated with traumatic brain injuries.

Through the procedure, Dr. Martin uses the miniature camera to see and release tendons and then places a rod in the heel to straighten the foot. The end result: Some patients can sit in wheelchairs or even stand for the first time in years and might be able to leave nursing home care.

It’s one example of how Dr. Martin focuses on using his creativity to help those he serves.

“Dr. Martin’s motives are patient driven,” Dr. Glassman says. “He’s looking foremost to do the very best that he can for his patient.”

Getting patients back to their lives after foot and ankle injury

Also among Dr. Martin’s innovations is “accelerated rehabilitation,” first used with members of the military, and now helping athletes as well as other patients eager to get back to their everyday lives after foot injuries.

Accelerated rehab is just what it sounds like.

Patients with ankle ligament and tendon injuries are more quickly able to access and undergo surgery and then follow up with a therapy team at an accelerated rate.

“I did a study in the military showing how fast we could get our soldiers back after reconstructing the ligaments in their ankles,” Dr. Martin says. “When I got here, I wanted to redo it in the civilian population, and we’re proving that we can get our civilians back weeks faster.”

When high school athlete Melayna Prindle of Lewis Center went to see Dr. Martin in 2022, the Irish dancer was afraid she’d never be competitive in her sport again.

She’d recently landed awkwardly during a routine, injuring her right ankle. Because she was preparing for a world championship event, she pushed through the pain — until she just couldn’t anymore.

“You can’t compete at that level with an ankle you can’t trust,” Dr. Martin says. “And we were kind of her last-ditch effort. She had tried bracing, she had tried therapy, and then she came to me, and she said, ‘Can we do surgery?’”

Building a better ankle

Dr. Martin used the miniature camera to make sure there was no cartilage damage. Then he repaired her ligaments, reinforcing the repair with an Arthrex InternalBrace to pave the way for a safe and early return to her sport.

Melayna’s ankle was bearing weight immediately following her surgery, then she wore a boot for about two weeks, after which she started physical therapy.

“Dr. Martin was allowing us to use an accelerated timeline,” says Samantha Amway, PT, OCS, an orthopedic physical therapist and performing arts medicine specialist. “Basically, what he said to me was, ‘You can progress her as she feels comfortable.’ It was really patient-guided.

“By week eight, we were ready to jump. So, her downtime was very little, and that's important, because it didn't give her muscles a chance to atrophy. Her muscles stayed fresh and engaged and ready to go.”

Melayna was back to dance within seven weeks. After a week or two of practice, she felt as strong as ever, with the confidence to again set her sights on a world championship.

“After my surgery, I accomplished things I never thought I could. It gave me a better mindset. And so, I did genuinely perform better,” Melayna says.

She went on to place 17th in a national competition, then sixth in a regional competition, where she qualified for the world championships in Scotland. There, she won her sixth team world title.

Having graduated from high school, she’s retired from dancing and now runs track for Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio.

“I’m back to 100%,” she says. “I'm off to running, and I have no pain at all.”

Faster rehab, faster return to life after ankle injury

Young athletes like Melayna represent a large part of Dr. Martin’s patient population. Performing at high levels unheard of just 10 or 15 years ago, they often sprain their ankles repeatedly.

Standard practice with such repairs is 16 to 18 weeks off, with six to eight of those weeks in a cast. Accelerated rehabilitation represents a paradigm shift.

In Melayna’s case, she would have been out three months and missed her senior year of competition.

Accelerated rehab means young athletes continue to have opportunities to participate in sports, compete for scholarships and possibly go to college, Dr. Martin says.

Longer-term, he explains, “these patients don’t go on to have ankle replacements when they’re in their 40s. We’re stopping arthritis from developing.”

But Dr. Martin’s patients aren’t all high-level athletes. Some are people wanting to get back to work, chase around their kids, walk their dogs or visit the park with grandchildren, Amway says.

For them also, accelerated rehab is a game-changer, not only physically but also psychologically.

“If we can give them a little bit of a flicker of hope, to be able to say, ‘We get to walk today,’ or we get to do something that they've been looking forward to, it really helps improve their spirits,” she says.

Pride in expanding care

Dr. Martin spent his youngest days on a dairy farm in rural southwest Michigan, leaving at age 18 to join the Army, where he was a combat medic and served in special operations as a paratrooper. Through the military, he went to nursing school and earned his undergraduate and medical degrees.

The Army was an ideal training ground.

“We do high impact activities, dangerous stuff,” Dr. Martin says. “It was a very opportune place to practice orthopedics, with five times the risk of ankle injuries compared with the general population.”

Lt. Col. Martin has been deployed in combat to Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, and spends two weeks each July doing complex surgeries for soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas.

His uncle with brittle bone disease, who lived to age 50, retained a strong upper body and would challenge his military nephew to push-up contests. He was “crazy proud” when Dr. Martin became an orthopedist.

“He was an inspirational person,” Dr. Martin says. “And just seeing how my grandpa and my grandma cared for him was even more inspirational because of the creativity they had to have.”

Along with high school and college athletes, Dr. Martin’s patients include Navy SEALs and members of Delta Force, as well as U.S. Olympians. He is proud to translate the innovation he’s now bringing to Division 1 athletes to change the lives of all his patients.

“We shouldn’t hold anything back from our day-to-day patients. We use the best technology for our Buckeye athletes, we give them world-class care, and then turn around and take those proven techniques and apply them to everybody,” he says. “The innovations we use on the athletes allow us to treat every patient like a Buckeye.”