Is the SERI Osteotomy for Hallux Valgus Reliable?
This is one to steer clear of.
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Smart Practice: The “Simple Easy Reliable Inexpensive” (SERI) osteotomy for hallux valgus sounds too good to be true, and we think it may be; you’re better off using an alternative.
What’s the Claim?
This is one of those “heads up” posts — you probably saw this article, but we are covering it because we don’t think its main findings are reliable.
A large case series of patients with severe hallux valgus (hallux valgus angle ≥40° or IMA of ≥16°), a reducible deformity (passive correction of the MTPJ of ≥50% was possible), and little or no arthritis of that joint evaluated the so-called “simple, effective, rapid, inexpensive (SERI)” osteotomy, and claimed:
- Improved AOFAS scores (45 ± 17 to 89 ± 10)
- Decreased pain (7 ± 2 to 1.5 ± 1.5 on the VAS scale)
- Nice alignment results (HVA improved from 41° ± 7° to 16° ± 7° and IMS decreased from 15° ± 3 to 7° ± 2)
(Here is the original description of the SERI osteotomy, freely available in full-text form).
How’s It Stack Up?
CORRelations’ advisor in Foot & Ankle, Greg Guyton, MD, says:
