Background: Hallux valgus deformities with large intermetatarsal angles require a more proximal metatarsal procedure to adequately correct the deformity. Due to the relative ease of a closing wedge osteotomy, this technique was adopted but with concern over first metatarsal shortening. In this study, we primarily evaluated angular correction and first metatarsal shortening.
Materials and methods: We evaluated 70 feet in 57 patients (average age, 54 years) with 52 female and five male. The average followup was 14 (range, 6 to 45) months. The charts were reviewed for the presence of metatarsalgia. Digital radiographic measurements were made for pre- and postoperative hallux valgus and intermetatarsal angles, dorsiflexion angle of the first metatarsal, and absolute and relative shortening of the first metatarsal.
Results: The average hallux valgus angle improved from 31 to 11 degrees (p < 0.0001) and intermetatarsal angle from 13.2 to 4.4 angles (p < 0.0001). The absolute shortening of the first metatarsal was 2.2 mm and relative shortening was 0.6 mm. There was 1.3 degrees of dorsiflexion on average.
Conclusion: Excellent correction of the deformity with minimal dorsiflexion or new complaints of metatarsalgia was found with this technique. The new method of assessing the relative shortening found to be less than the absolute shortening, which we feel more accurately reflects the functional length of the first metatarsal.