Comparison between suture and staple fixations as internal fixation techniques for Akin osteotomy

Abstract

BackgroundSuture and staple fixations are commonly used methods for Akin osteotomy; however, there has been a paucity of studies comparing these methods without bias. Patients and methodsWe retrospectively compared the outcomes of 58 Akin osteotomies performed by a single surgeon using suture fixation and 39 Akin osteotomies performed by the same surgeon using staple fixation during the same period. ResultsBone union at the osteotomy site was achieved in all cases with no cases of complications related to the materials used. Occurrence of breakage of the lateral cortex of the proximal phalanx showed no significant difference between the suture and staple groups. The lateral cortex breakage produced greater instability at the osteotomy site with the staple fixation compared to the suture fixation. ConclusionsComparison of suture and staple fixations of Akin osteotomy demonstrated the superiority of suture fixation against staple fixation in terms of stability and cost-efficiency.