The triplanar chevron osteotomy.

BACKGROUND: The chevron osteotomy is a widely used procedure in the surgical treatment of symptomatic mild to moderate hallux valgus deformity. Biplanar chevron osteotomy has previously been described to correct the deformity in two planes. There are patients in whom the ideal procedure would include lateral translation of the head (to correct the hallux valgus and intermetatarsal angles), angular correction of the abnormal lateral inclination of the joint surface and, finally, plantar displacement of the head fragment without significantly shortening the first ray as might the Youngswick-Austin procedure. METHOD: This paper describes a variation of the chevron osteotomy. CONCLUSION: We believe that this osteotomy achieves correction of the hallux valgus deformity in three planes.