Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of three different types of hallux valgus surgeries on patient function using validated questionnaires and to correlate the results with radiographic and physical examinations. This study presents the 2-year followup data of a previous prospective outcome study.
Methods: One hundred and ninety-six patients were enrolled in this study and completed a baseline AAOS Lower Limb Outcomes Data Collection Questionnaire. They completed the same form at 6, 12, and 24 months after having one of three types of hallux valgus surgeries (106 chevron osteotomies, 72 modified McBride procedures, and 18 modified Lapidus procedures). This questionnaire included the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) as well as questions relating to lower extremity function. Additionally, physicians were asked to complete preoperative and postoperative questionnaires on each patient that included radiographic and physical examination data and the type of surgery done. Completed outcome surveys and radiographic data were available on 196 patients, and physical examination scores were available to assign an AOFAS score in 111 patients at 24-month followup. A one-way comparison was done after stratifying the results for the type of surgery, preoperative hallux valgus angle and 1-2 intermetatarsal angle, postoperative hallux valgus angle and 1-2 intermetatarsal angle, and the change in the angles.
Results: Four of the 10 SF-36 scores (physical function, role-physical, bodily pain, and role-emotional) for the combined data improved by more than five points. For the AAOS lower extremity function scores, physical health and pain (68.5 to 81.6), satisfaction with symptoms (1.8 to 3.6), global foot and ankle (77.6 to 93.4), and shoe comfort (29.0 to 58.7) scores all increased significantly. The AOFAS score increased from 52.6 to 85.5 (p <0.001). Surprisingly, when comparing mild-to-moderate to severe deformities preoperatively and postoperatively using the absolute magnitude of the angular change in the hallux valgus or intermetatarsal angles, similar improvement was noted in AOFAS, SF-36, and AAOS lower extremity scores. The magnitude of preoperative deformity, postoperative residual deformity, and magnitude of correction also did not significantly change the amount of improvement in any of these scores. No significant differences were noted in the outcome scores among the three different surgeries.
Conclusion: Patients who had hallux valgus surgery had significant improvements in four of their SF-36 scores, four of five of AAOS lower extremity scores, and AOFAS scores. The degree of deformity, amount of correction, or type of operation did not influence outcome.