Deformities of the smaller toes and surgical treatment.

According to the anatomical changes, deformities of the smaller toes often are referred to as hammer toe, club toe, and claw toe. In this article a new deformity, which often appears as inflammatory arthritis, is described. In this toe deformation, which the author calls zig-zag deformity, there are contractures at the metatarsophalangeal joints, and at the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints. Between January 1983 and June 1985, 70 patients with small-toe deformities were treated surgically: 64 by partial phalangeal resection and 6 by tendon transfer with the Girdlestone technique. The results are presented in this article.