[The management of post-surgical pain in the patient treated for hallux valgus with percutaneous and minimally invasive technique]

Abstract

Objective: In today's literature there are no defined guidelines for the treatment of postoperative pain in corrective surgery of hallux valgus. In this study we evaluated the use of a new treatment protocol designed to minimize the postoperative pain related to the surgical treatment of hallux valgus.

Materials and methods: The study involved 20 female patients (20 feet) treated for moderate to severe hallux valgus between September 2011 and December of 2012 with a percutaneous technique (10 feet) and minimally invasive surgery (Endolog System) (10 feet). All patients received postoperative as analgesic therapy 1 cp etoricoxib 120 mg/ day for 5 days + oxycodone hydrochloride/naloxone 5mg 1cp × 2/day for 15 days. The evaluation forms of pain VAS/VRS have been used for the evaluation of pre and postoperative pain at 15 and 30 days.

Results: In both groups we found a significant reduction of pain in the days following surgery. At 30 days the VAS score was similar in between the two groups. Few and mild side effects were reported (1 case).

Conclusions: The co-administration of an anti-cox2 and an opioid in the first postoperative hours is useful to reduce soft tissue swelling and to control pain without causing significant side effects. The therapeutic protocol adopted, along with an adequate anesthesiological approach, has proved to be very effective for pain management in peri-and post-operative treatment of hallux valgus.