TAILORS BUNION - IS FIXATION NECESSARY

Tailor's bunion or bunionette are terms that describe a pathologic enl argement occurring laterally on the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint. R egardless of the etiology that precipitates the deformity, the resulti ng abnormal protrusion of soft tissue or bone can result in pain for t he patient. Symptoms can range from mild discomfort to severe, debilit ating pain. The patient may present with pain dorsolaterally, laterall y, or plantarly. The symptoms are mechanically induced, and are often associated with hyperkeratotic lesions and adventitious bursae. Patien ts complain most often that they cannot find comfortable shoes. The au thors compare the effectiveness of fixated versus nonfixated distal os teotomies of the fifth metatarsal for the correction of tailor's bunio n. This study shows that fixation can help control postoperative dorsa l displacement of the fifth metatarsal capital fragment (p < 0.0001) a nd produce less shortening of the metatarsal resulting in fewer compli cations.