Troughing after Scarf Osteotomy Leads to Minimal Gait Alterations

Abstract

We aimed to investigate whether troughing during scarf osteotomy for hallux valgus can be determined using plantar pressure analysis. In order to quantify the foot print area of a patient at 7 and 12 weeks after the surgery, the raw pressure data were exported to two matrixes. Each matrix has the size of the force distribution platform and contains the plantar force data of the patient in gait movement. These large matrixes containing both left and right pressure data were divided in small size matrixes and averaged. The computation was done in Matlab. The matrixes were flipped up in order to have the natural position of the footprint. The two were plotted as contours in Z axis but kept the external contours only. This difference was measured by subtracting the areas of the two contours. The results are typical footprints for left and right legs, at predetermined follow-up points.