RESEARCH ARTICLE
Surgical Management of the Forefoot in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis - A Review Article
W.J. Nash, S. Al-Nammari, W.S. Khan*, I.P. Pengas
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2015Volume: 9
First Page: 78
Last Page: 83
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-9-78
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001509010078
Article History:
Received Date: 24/10/2014Revision Received Date: 25/1/2015
Acceptance Date: 3/2/2015
Electronic publication date: 31 /3/2015
Collection year: 2015

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Foot and ankle pathologies cause a significant disease burden on rheumatoid patients. Forefoot pathologies causes pain, callosities and possibly ulceration, and can cause problems with footwear. Forefoot correction in rheumatoid patients has historically comprised of excision of diseased joints. While satisfaction was high with this procedure, complications, changing expectations and improvement in medical therapy have raised expectation of patients, physicians and surgeons alike. This review assesses the role of joint preserving osteotomies and arthrodesis, as well as associated complications. It also describes the role of the multidisciplinary team in the management of these patients.