Materials and Methods: Consecutive 39 patients who underwent first metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) arthrodesis for hallux rigidus were assessed clinically, radiographically and functionally at a mean follow up of 21.45 months. Clinical assessment was performed by two blinded assessors in a specially arranged research clinic. Radiological examinations were performed separately by two independent researchers on digitalised weight bearing radiographs. Functional outcome was assessed using American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hallux score and a short form-12 (SF-12) questionnaire.

Results: There were 19 patients who had dorsal contoured titanium plates and 20 patients who had single inter fragmentary screw fixation. Both the groups were comparable preoperatively. All except 5 patients achieved radiological fusion at a mean of 7.64 weeks. Over all rate of fusion in the present series is 87.1%. There were 4 non-unions in the plate group and one in screw group. Mean AOFAS score was 74.94 in the screw group and 70.63 in the plate group. There were no hardware problems in the single screw group. However in the plate group one patient with non-union broke the plate and another patient had back out of screws. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of pain-relief, activity-limitation, cosmetic appearance, foot wear requirements, dorsiflexion angle, hallux-valgus angle and inclination angles and SF 12 scores. Four patients in the plate group and one in screw group were unsatisfied with the surgery.

Conclusions: Solid fusion has resulted in good pain relief and patient satisfaction in both groups. In the dorsal plate group 4 patients (21.6%) had non-unions, two patients had metal problems. We have stopped using the plate alone technique for the fixation of first MTPJ fusion.