Early Results of Operative Treatment of Freiberg Disease Using Extra Articular Dorsal Closing Wedge Osteotomy

Background: For Freiberg disease, extra-articular dorsal closure wedge osteotomy has been utilized with good results; nonetheless, there have been concerns about the technical difficulty. We aimed to evaluate the outcome of the dorsal closings wedge osteotomy in addition to the the debridement application on Freiberg disease in terms of functional recovery and the pain relief. Methods: 12 Freiberg disease patients who received an extra-articular dorsal closure wedge osteotomy at Zagazig University Hospitals over a 6-month period were included in the study. Results: One intraoperative bone fragmentation complication and one postoperative infection occurred. All patients had reduced toe flexion postoperatively. The mean preoperative pain score of 8.67 decreased to 1.33 postoperatively (p=0.002), an 85.8% improvement. Radiographic staging improved from stages III/IV preoperatively to all stage II postoperatively (p=0.001). Conclusion: Combining soft tissue and bone release reduces joint load and stress while tolerably limiting range of motion, mostly flexion and some extension.