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Background: Percutaneous surgery is experiencing sustained growth based on third-generation techniques. This cadaveric study was designed with the main goal of exploring the risk of iatrogenic tendon and neurovascular lesions and defining the safe zones in a percutaneous, intra-articular, chevron osteotomy (PeICO) procedure, as well as assessing the accuracy of the osteotomy itself. Methods: Eight feet from below-knee fresh-frozen specimens were selected. After the procedure, the specimens were dissected, and structures were inspected for damage. Results: The results of the safety measurements were as follows: (1) distance between portal 1 (P1) and the lateral border of the extensor hallucis longus (EHL) tendon: average 17.6 mm (range 12.7-21.3); (2) distance between P1 and the dorsomedial digital nerve (DMDN): average 7.2 mm (range 1.6-10.4); (3) distance between P1 and the metatarsophalangeal joint: average 15.7 mm (range 9.4-20.5); distance between portal 2 (P2), or the osteosynthesis portal, and the metatarsophalangeal joint: average 25.5 mm (range 22-30.4); distance between P2 and the lateral border of the EHL tendon: average 12.7 mm (range 8-16.7); and distance between P2 and the DMDN: average 4.1 mm (range 1.7-8.2). There were no iatrogenic injuries. The osteotomy angulation in the sagittal plane (reproducibility) average was 85.6 degrees. Conclusion: There were no iatrogenic injuries on this cadaveric study of PeICO. Clinical Relevance: This study will help orthopedic surgeons understand the risks of performing percutaneous surgery by mimicking an accepted open technique (chevron).

Background: Lateral release (LR) for the treatment of hallux valgus is a routinely performed technique, either by means of open or minimally invasive (MI) surgery. Despite this, there is no available evidence of the efficacy and safety of MI lateral release. Our aim was to study 2 popular techniques for MI LR in cadavers by subsequently dissecting the released anatomical structures. Methods: Twenty-two cadaveric feet were included in the study and allocated into 2 groups, 1 for each procedure: 1 group underwent a MI adductor tendon release (AR), and in the other group, an extensive percutaneous lateral release (EPLR) (adductor tendon, suspensory ligament, phalanx-sesamoid ligament, lateral head of flexor hallucis brevis, and deep transverse metatarsal ligament) was performed. Anatomical dissection was performed to identify neurovascular injuries and to verify the released structures. Results: Both techniques demonstrated to be effective in reproducing a MI LR. A satisfactory release of the adductor tendon was achieved equally in both techniques ( P = .85), being partial in most EPLR cases and full in the majority of AR cases. The EPLR was successful in releasing the intended additional structures ( P < .05). One case of inadvertent complete section of the flexor hallucis longus was identified in the percutaneous adductor tendon release group. No cases of dorsolateral nerve injury were seen with either of the techniques. Conclusion: Percutaneous lateral release was a reliable and accurate technique in this cadaveric model. The MI AR proved to be more effective in fully releasing the adductor tendon while the ER was intended and able to release a number of other structures. Clinical Relevance: MI LR is a safe procedure that could obviate the need for open surgery to achieve the same surgical goal. It can be associated to either open or MI osteotomies in the correction of hallux valgus.

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Bunionette, or Tailor’s bunion, refers to a painful lateral prominence at the fifth metatarsal head. Metatarsal osteotomies have proved to be a successful treatment, and have been described at the distal, diaphyseal, and proximal levels. Distal metatarsal osteotomies have been reported as effective in bunionette correction in several clinical studies. In the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the use of percutaneous or minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of this condition. Minimally invasive distal metatarsal metaphyseal osteotomy (DMMO) has proved to be successful when treating metatarsalgia. We present a surgical technique consisting in a distal osteotomy of the fifth metatarsal, which resembles DMMO, but requires a lateral displacement. We retrospectively investigated 38 feet from 32 patients with symptomatic bunionette deformity and showed good to excellent functional and clinical results. The S-DMMO proved to be a safe (low complication rate) and effective (adequate clinical results and powerful radiologic correction) procedure for the treatment of bunionette deformity. Level of Evidence: Diagnostic Level 4. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.