Relationship Between Adolescent Bunions and Flatfeet

Abstract

Pes planus has been suggested as a factor in the development of bunions in adolescents. This study objectively evaluated the radiographs of 36 adolescents with 66 hallux valgus deformities for the presence of associated flatfeet. The bunion deformity in these adolescents was also characterized. Only 26.6% of these adolescents had an increased intermetatarsal angle and 8.1% an abnormal metatarsus varus angle as compared with the published norms. Measurements of pes planus including talar pitch, calcaneal plantar angle, dorsoplantar talonavicular angle, and lateral talocalcaneal angle showed an incidence of flatfeet in adolescents with bunions that was 8 to 24 times greater than expected.