[Minimally invasive treatment of mild and moderate hallux valgus]

Our institution implemented a minimally-invasive surgery program that included a thorough preoperative assessment and planning to provide the patient with an appropriate correction of the radiographic parameters as well as esthetic satisfaction, together with a shorter hospital stay and less analgesic use.

Retrospective, comparative, longitudinal and observational clinical trial. The study period was from January 2002 to December 2007; 40 patients with hallux valgus underwent minimally invasive surgery, 12 of them underwent bilateral surgery, for a total of 52 feet with hallux valgus; 100% of them were females. Patients with mild hallux valgus were 59.6% (31 patients) and those with moderate hallux valgus represented 40.4% (21 patients). Radiographic measurements were assessed in the pre- and postoperative periods; the AOFAS test was performed in the pre- and postoperative periods and 6 months later. Central trend and scatter measurements and Student's t-Test were performed.

A significant difference was found in both the pre- and postoperative measurements. In both groups the postoperative results were within the normal ranges and there was no significant difference between them in the 6-month postoperative assessment.

Any failed correction of some of the intrinsic and extrinsic components may cause a recurrent deformity. Certain parameters cannot be corrected with this method and therefore the orthopedic surgeon should be familiar with more than one corrective surgical method to decipher the deformative biomechanics of each patient.