A gradual mis-shaping of the smaller toes which can cause them to curl up. This can cause pain when toes no longer fit into the ends of shoes. You can consider larger shoes or surgery to correct the shape.
I suggest a deeper and wider, more accommodating shoe. Padding or simple orthotics can decrease rubbing on the prominent parts of the toes.
To fuse a deformed joint in the lesser toes a cut is made over the top of the joint, which is then removed. The joint is held stable in its corrected position with a wire which sticks out from the end of the toe and is removed in clinic at 6 weeks. Sometimes the deformity is caused by the big toe pushing the others over or other more major foot deformities. If this is the case then this deformity would need to be corrected at the same time as the toe fusion.
All surgical procedures carry some risk. These risks are usually rare, but can include infection, bleeding, damage to surrounding structures such as tendons or nerves, numbness, dysfunction of foot, ongoing pain, unsightly scar, painful scar, wound healing problems, swelling. There is also a risk that the procedure does not work fully and that the patient is left with some ongoing symptoms.
There are also some medical risks to surgery such as a clot in the leg (DVT), clot in the lung (pulmonary embolus or PE). The general anaesthetic has rare risks of problems such as heart attack, stroke, chest infection and in extremely rare circumstances, death.
There is a small chance of the bones not fusing together and this is called "non-union". Smoking and diabetes increase this risk. If this happens you may need further operations to deal with the problem.