Weightbearing Forefoot Axial Radiography-Technical Description and Reproducibility Evaluation

Abstract

Objective The present study aims to describe a new weightbearing radiographic method to visualize the heads of the five metatarsals on the coronal plane, evaluating their accuracy through intraclass correlation coefficients. Methods The subjects were evaluated, with weightbearing, with the ankle at 20 degrees of plantar flexion and the metatarsophalangeal joints at 10 degrees of extension, positioned on a wooden device. Two independent foot and ankle surgeons evaluated the radiography, with one of them doing it twice, at different moments, achieving an inter and intraobserver correlation, with intraclass correlation coefficients. Results We radiographed 63 feet, achieving an interobserver correlation coefficient of the radiographic method for the metatarsal heads heights in the coronal plane of the 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th, and 5 th metatarsals of, respectively, 0.90, 0.85, 0.86, 0.83, 0.89. The intraobserver correlation coefficient were, respectively, 0.95, 0.93, 0.93, 0.86, 0.92. Conclusion Those correlations demonstrate that the method is accurate and can be used to investigate metatarsal head misalignments in this plane.