Postoperative pain behavior in hallux valgus using conventional, minimally invasive, and percutaneous techniques

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the intensity of pain in postoperative hallux valgus, using three different groups of surgical techniques. Methods: We analyzed the intensity of postoperative pain in 80 feet of 69 patients with hallux valgus. The mean age of the patients at surgery was 52 years-old. We performed conventional surgeries in 34 feet, minimally invasive in 16 and percutaneous in 30. We evaluated the intensity of pain preoperatively and at intervals after operation (1st, 7th, 30th, and 90th days), using a visual analog scale of pain. Results: The pain was reported as gradually decreasing over time after surgery, being very close to no pain on the 90th day. Percutaneous surgery had less pain at all evaluations compared to conventional surgeries (the 1st, 7th, 30th, and 90th days). When compared to the minimally invasive technique, the pain was lower on the 30th and 90th days. There was no significant difference in pain between conventional and minimally invasive techniques. Percutaneous surgery showed the best profile of pain reduction. Conclusions: The percutaneous surgery for the correction of hallux valgus showed less intensity of pain when compared to conventional surgery in all postoperative evaluations. The percutaneous technique showed less intensity of pain when compared to the minimally invasive surgery group, in the evaluations on the 30th and 90th postoperative days