Abstract
Hallux rigidus was first described by Davies-Colley and Cotterill in 1887 and varied management techniques have been described by authors since. This paper carries out an audit looking at the management of hallux rigidus in 108 patients.
A retrospective study was carried out on 108 patients coded as hallux rigidus/hallux valgus over a ten year period from 1992 to 2002 (33 male and 75 female) with a follow-up range from 3 to 144 months. Thirty three toes (27 patients) were fused, 20 toes had Tel Aviv procedures (17 patients) and 61 patients were managed conservatively.
Of the 33 toes fused, 18 required a second procedure in the form of wire removal, two developed transient transfer metatarsalgia, one developed IP joint pain and one had asymptomatic fibrous non-union. Of the 20 Tel Aviv procedures, one toe developed hallux valgus requiring re-operation and two toes had unrelated complications, one requiring re-operation.
A single method of MTP fusion when the audit was performed revealed an interesting outcome. Hallux rigidus must be managed as an ongoing continuum, not a static state.
The abstracts were prepared by Jean-Claude Theis. Correspondence should be addressed to him at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dunedin Hospital, Private Bag 1921, Dunedin, New Zealand.
