Treatment of brachymetatarsia by the callus distraction method

Brachymetatarsia is not an uncommon congenital foot disorder that is due to a premature closure of the ephiphyseal plate. The literature has numerous surgical procedures for the correction of this problem. In recent years, the callus distraction technique described by ilizarov has been utilized for this problem. This is a retrospective study of the use of the callus distraction technique for the correction of congenitally short metatarsal. This series included six feet in six female patients, all with a short fourth metatarsal. Preoperative complaints were metatarsalgia and/or cosmesis. A noncircular, uniplanar axial fixation device was utilized for fixation and distraction. The fixator was put in place prior to the metatarsal osteotomy. Static fixation was for a period of 5-7 days before distraction was begun. The metatarsal was lengthened 0.5 mm two times a day, or 1 mm per day. The time to end point ranged from 45 to 70 days, followed by another 6-8 weeks of static immobilization. The preoperative metatarsal length ranged from 3.5 to 4.2 cm. The end stage metatarsal length ranged from 4.7 to 6.3 cm, with an average increase in length of 1.68 cm. As compared to other techniques described in the medical literature, the callus distraction technique has its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages.