Hallux valgus: roentgenometry of foot bones before and after surgical correction

The results of hallux valgus treatment in 63 patients have been studied using the technique of multipositional roentgenography, which was performed before and after surgery, as well as at different stages of device fixation and in the long-term period. Roentgenometric investigations were made in all patients. Depending on the degree of the first ray deformity the patients were subjected to different types of osteotomies with osteotomized fragment fixation using an external fixator. After deformity correction a prolonged reorganization process was observed in the first metatarsal bone, which can be divided into two periods: the immediate two months and one year after the end of treatment. The reorganization process of the first metatarsal bone was close to completion in 48 patients 1 year after the end of treatment, well marked cortical plates were formed, meshy structure was traced in the zone of bone base, the shape of the first metatarsal bone was nearly normal. In the rest patients the reorganization process was incomplete, there were compaction parts in the zones of osteotomies, the cortical plate was of different thickness and density, the meshy structure in the zone of bone head and base alternated with compaction and rarefaction parts.