Hallux rigidus: treatment by cheilectomy.

Cheilectomy, the excision of an irregular osseous rim that interferes with motion of a joint, was performed on the distal part of the first metatarsal of twenty-five patients who had hallux rigidus. Relief of pain was achieved in all but three patients, whose cases were considered as failures. Joint motion improved by an average of 20 degrees, and it was in an acceptable range in twenty-three patients. There were no complications other than persistence of swelling in six patients. No patient required additional operative intervention during an average follow-up of fifty-six months. We concluded that cheilectomy is a better method of treatment for hallux rigidus than arthrodesis, resection arthroplasty, or arthroplasty with the use of a flexible implant.