ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The objectives of this review were to: 1) describe reasons for lawsuits following primary hallux valgus surgery in France from 2000 to 2020; 2) to compare private and public practice. METHODS: Civil (private practice) and administrative (public practice) court decisions in France between 2000 and 2020 were collected using the two leading legal data sources (Legifrance, Doctrine). RESULTS: Seventy-two court decisions related to hallux valgus surgery were included. An appeal was filed in 93% of cases. Finally, 70.8% of the verdicts were in favor of the complainants. The average compensation awarded to a plaintiff was 55,333. The main reasons for complaint after hallux valgus surgery were: a failure to provide preoperative information (47.2%), post-operative pain/stiffness (38.9%), and infection (30.6%). A proven lack of information increased the risk of recognizing the occurrence of post-operative pain and stiffness as faulty from 13.3% to 61.5% (p = 0.01), and the average compensation from 25,330 to 76,716 (p = 0.04). The duration of the procedure was about 1.5 years longer in civil proceedings (p = 0.04). There was no significant difference between private and public activity litigation. CONCLUSION: Clear and adapted patient information and its traceability could be a way to reduce the number of complaints and their consequences in case of disappointing results.
