Clinical efficacy of the pan metatarsal head resection as a curative procedure in patients with diabetes mellitus and neuropathic forefoot wounds.

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the pan metatarsal head resection (PMHR) compared with nonsurgical management of wounds in the forefoot in people with diabetes. The authors evaluated 92 patients with diabetes (66.3% male), with ulcers classified as University of Texas grade 1A or 2A at the plantar aspect of the forefoot using a case-control model. Cases were patients treated with multiple metatarsal head resections for multiple metatarsal head wounds, and controls received standard nonsurgical care. Both groups received standard off-loading and wound care. Outcomes included time to healing, reulceration, infection, and amputation. Patients in the surgery group (SG) healed significantly faster than those in the standard therapy group (ST; 84.2 ± 39.9 days for the ST vs 60.1 ± 27.9 days for the SG; P = .003) and had fewer recurrent ulcers (39.1% for the ST vs 15.2% for the SG; P = .02; odds ratio [OR] = 3.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3-9.7) and infections during 1 year of follow-up (64.5% for the ST vs 35.5% for the SG; P = .047; OR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.0-6.0). There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients receiving an incident amputation in the follow-up period (13.0% for the ST vs 6.5% for the SG; P = .5). The results of this study suggest that the PMHR may be associated with shorter times to healing and lower morbidity compared with standard care alone in patients without digital gangrene and with multiple plantar forefoot ulcers.