Distal oblique metatarsal osteotomy technique in hallux valgus deformity: Clinical and radiological results

Effectiveness of hallux valgus surgery on improving health-related quality of life: A follow up study

BACKGROUND

Hallux valgus (HV) negatively impacts health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Patientreported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly used in clinical studies of the foot and ankle. We aimed to evaluate the effect of HV surgery on PROMs (i.e., pain scales, general HRQoL, and region-specific scales) and radiological angles. Additionally, we aimed to determine whether the effect on these outcomes depends on the type of surgery (including open and percutaneous techniques) and if it is influenced by potential confounding factors (i.e., age, HVA, 1-2 IMA, body mass index (BMI), and distal metatarsal articular angle (DMAA).

METHODS

This was a longitudinal prospective study. We collected the clinical data of all patients who underwent surgery for symptomatic HV deformity in the orthopedic department of the Virgen de la Luz Hospital of Cuenca (Spain).The clinical outcomes were assessed using the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Hallux metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal (HMI) scale, visual analogue scale (VAS), Manchester Oxford foot questionnaire (MOXFQ), short form health survey (SF-12) and European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D).

RESULTS

A total of 72 patients (70 women, 97.2%) were included in the study 72 (72 feet).The AOFAS pre-post-surgery score changed from 42.16 (SD: 10.11) to 83.31 (SD: 6.23). Considering AOFAS domains, the pre-post change was from 14.17 (SD: 9.15) to 33.19 (SD: 4.69) for pain, from 27.22 (SD: 3.90) to 37.94 (SD: 2.78) for function, and from 0.78 (SD: 2.38) to 12.18 (SD: 3.45) for alignment. For other clinical outcomes was VAS score from 5.01(SD: 1.26) to 1.26 (SD: 0.96) and MOXFQ score from 61.44 (SD: 7.09) to 12.35 (SD: 4.85). SF-12 (physical) changed from 36.26 (SD: 5.32) to 47.06 (SD: 4.82), SF-12 (mental) from 38.23 (SD: 8.04) to 46.49 (SD: 4.16), and EQ5-D from 0.64 (SD: 0.008) to 0.90 (SD: 0.10).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data confirmed the improvements in the clinical and radiological outcomes after HV surgery, and provided some evidence of these improvements not depending on the type of surgery or on some potential confounding factors such as BMI, HVA, 1-2 IMA, and DMAA.

Radiographic Assessment of Relationship between Medial Cuneiform Obliquity and Hallux Valgus

The research results are inconsistent that assessing whether the increased obliquity of the distal articular surface of the medial cuneiform leads to an increase in hallux valgus angle. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between distal medial cuneiform obliquity and hallux valgus by measuring various angles in weightbearing anteroposterior radiographs of the foot. In total, 679 feet of 538 patients with the radiographs were included in the study. We measured radiographic parameters including hallux valgus angle, first to second intermetatarsal angle, metatarsus adductus angle, first metatarsus cuneiform angle, distal medial cuneiform angle, and first proximal metatarsal articular angle. The surface morphology (flat or curved) of the first tarsometatarsal joint was also recorded. Our results analysis revealed a weak negative correlation between distal medial cuneiform angle and both hallux valgus angle and first to second intermetatarsal angle, contrary to our assumption. So we believe that distal medial cuneiform angle was relatively constant and it cannot be used as a characteristic angle for quantifying hallux valgus. First metatarsus cuneiform angle was a characteristic indicator of hallux valgus and was positively correlated with its severity (p < .000), indicating that it can be used to measure the size of hallux valgus. It can also be used as a reference factor for the first metatarsal osteotomy in clinical bunion orthopedics. First tarsometatarsal joint morphology was unrelated to hallux valgus, whereas metatarsus adductus angle, and first proximal metatarsal articular angle should be considered in hallux valgus.

[Radiographic study of relationship between medial cuneiform obliquity and simple hallux valgus]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between hallux valgus and the indicators associated with medial cuneiform obliquity measured on feet weight-bearing anteroposterior X-ray films.

METHODS

Based on the feet weight-bearing anteroposterior X-ray films taken between January 2018 and February 2021 and met the criteria, the hallux valgus angle (HVA), intermetatarsal angle (IMA), metatarsus adductus angle (MAA), metatarsus cuneiform angle (MCA), distal medial cuneiform angle (DMCA), and proximal metatarsal articular angle (PMAA) were measured and the morphology of the first tarsometatarsal (TMT) were recorded. According to the HVA, the X-ray films were divided into normal group (HVA<15°) and hallux valgus group (HVA≥15°). The gender, age, sides, IMA, MAA, MCA, DMCA, PMAA, and the morphology of TMT were compared between groups. The influencing factors of HVA and IMA were analyzed by multivariate linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

X-ray films of 534 patients (679 feet) met the selection criteria and were included in the study. There were 220 males and 314 females, with an average age of 36 years (mean, 18-82 years). There were 154 cases (168 feet) in the normal group and 403 cases (511 feet) in the hallux valgus group. There were significant differences in gender and age between groups ( P<0.05), and no significant difference in the side ( P>0.05). The IMA, MAA, and MCA in the hallux valgus group were significantly bigger than those in the normal group ( P<0.05); the difference in DMCA between the two groups was not significant ( P>0.05). The TMT morphology of the two groups was mainly curved, and the difference in morphology classification was not significant ( P>0.05). PMAA measurement showed that there were 3 kinds of metatarsal shapes: adductive metatarsal, neutral metatarsal, and abductive metatarsal, the difference in metatarsal shapes between groups was not significant ( P>0.05). The PMAA of abductive metatarsal was significantly bigger in normal group than in hallux valgus group ( P<0.05), there was no significant difference in PMAA of adductive metatarsal between groups ( P>0.05). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that age, MCA, and DMCA were the influencing factors of HVA ( P<0.05), and age, MAA, MCA, and DMCA were the influencing factors of IMA ( P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

The medial cuneiform obliquity is relatively constant and the DMCA can not be used as the characteristic angle to quantify hallux valgus. The morphology of TMT has no relationship with hallux valgus, while MAA, MCA, and PMAA are all factors to be considered, and MCA can be used as the characteristic angle to quantify hallux valgus.