Surgical treatment of macrodactyly of the foot in children

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of the study was to produce an algorithm and surgical procedure for optimum treatment of pedal macrodactyly. Surgery was performed on 27 feet of 26 patients with a mean age of 33 months at the time of surgery (range: 7–108 months). A multi-technique procedure based on the involved elements of the foot (soft tissue, phalanx, or metatarsal, or a combination of these) was adopted. The intermetatarsal width ratio, phalanx spread angle, and metatarsal spread angle was used to evaluate the severity of the macrodactyly and the effect of treatment. The Oxford Ankle Foot Questionnaire for Children and the Questionnaire for Foot Macrodactyly were employed to evaluate the clinical results. Under the guidelines of the treatment algorithm, all patients were successfully operated on using the multi-technique procedure; the sizes of the affected feet decreased significantly. After a mean of 33 months (range: 18–42 months) follow-up, the intermetatarsal width ratio decreased from 1.13 to 0.93 (p < 0.05), the phalanx spread angle decreased from 31.3° to 17.9° (p < 0.05), the metatarsal spread angle decreased from 33.2° to 15.8° (p < 0.05), and the mean score for the Oxford Ankle Foot Questionnaire for Children improved from 42 to 47 (p < 0.05) after surgery. The mean score for the Questionnaire for Foot Macrodactyly was 9.35 at the time of follow-up. The goal of the treatment of pedal macrodactyly is to obtain a functional and cosmetically acceptable foot. This treatment algorithm and multi-technique procedure could fully satisfy this goal.