Effects of the change in the metatarsal length on the clinical outcome after surgical treatment hallux valgus

OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of the present study was to evaluate to what degree the change in metatarsal length can affect the clinical outcomes in patients who underwent either a distal chevron or a proximal cres-centic metatarsal osteotomy for hallux valgus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-two patients were included in this study. Nine of the patients were male and 53 were fe-male. The mean age of the patients during the surgical intervention was 45.9 years. Thirty patients underwent crescentic proximal metatarsal osteotomy and 32 un-derwent distal chevron metatarsal osteotomy as the treatment of hallux valgus. The mean follow-up was 24.3 months. Postoperatively, clinical as well as the radiographic evaluation was carried-out at the end of the forth week, third, sixth and twelfth months, and annually thereafter. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society forefoot (AOFAS) score, Visual Analo-gue Scale (VAS), metatarsal length, hallux valgus angle (HVA), and intermetatarsal angle (IMA) were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean HVA as well as the mean IMA improved significantly in both group of patients. The mean change in the length of the first metatarsal was -2.8 mm in distal chevron group and -1.2 mm in cres-centic proximal osteotomy group. The mean correc-tion of hallux valgus angle was 13.6 degrees in distal chevron osteotomy whereas it was 20.4 degrees in crescentic proximal osteotomy. The patients with >3 mm of shortening had significantly worse VAS scores. We did not observe any non-union or avascular nec-rosis of the metatarsal head. At the latest follow-up, 8 patients from DCMO group and 5 patients from CPMO group mentioned that they would not recommend surgery to others with similar complaints. CONCLUSION: Distal chevron osteotomy lead shorte-ning of the first metatarsal bone resulting in transfer metatarsalgia and worse pain scores more commonly than crescentic proximal metatarsal osteotomy.