Hallux valgus in men: effect of the distal metatarsal articular angle on hallux valgus correction.

The results of hallux valgus correction were reviewed for 34 male patients (41 feet). The severity of the preoperative deformity determined the operative technique of correction. A distal soft tissue procedure with proximal first metatarsal osteotomy was performed in 30 patients (35 feet) with an average correction of the hallux valgus angle of 22 degrees. A chevron procedure was performed in five cases and a McBride procedure in one other case, all with less severe deformities. Complications included one deep wound infection, one broken screw at the metatarsal osteotomy site, and three cases of hallux varus. No patients underwent reoperation. Undercorrection was noted in 10 of 35 cases (29%) where a distal soft tissue procedure with proximal first metatarsal osteotomy was performed. A nonsubluxated (congruent) metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint associated with a hallux valgus deformity was present in 15 of 41 (37%) of all cases and 10 of 35 (29%) of cases that underwent a distal soft tissue procedure with proximal metatarsal osteotomy (DSTR with PMO). A subluxated (noncongruent) MTP joint associated with hallux valgus was present in 26 of 41 (63%) of all cases and 25 of 35 (71%) of cases undergoing a DSTR with PMO. There was a highly significant difference in the average distal metatarsal articular angle (DMAA) as measured in the nonsubluxated (congruent) MTP joints (20.7 degrees) and the subluxated (noncongruent) MTP joints with hallux valgus (10 degrees) (P = 0.0001). The average distal metatarsal articular angle for all cases undergoing DSTR with PMO was 13 degrees. When the postoperative hallux valgus angle was compared with DMAA, the average residual hallux valgus angle was 10.1 degrees. With a subluxated (noncongruent) first MTP joint with hallux valgus (a low DMAA), the percent of hallux valgus correction (hallux valgus correction [in degrees]/preoperative hallux valgus deformity [in degrees]) was 77%. In patients with a nonsubluxated (congruent) first MTP joint with hallux valgus (a high DMAA), the percent correction was 46%, an almost twofold difference in percent correction. There was a close correlation between the preoperative DMAA and the postoperative hallux valgus angle in both the subluxated and congruent subgroups (P = 0.0003). With an intra-articular repair (a DSTP with PMO), the magnitude of correction of a hallux valgus deformity is limited at the MTP joint by the distal metatarsal articular angle.