Manipulative and Multimodal Therapies in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Great Toe: A Case Series

ObjectiveThe objective of this case series is to describe manual manipulative therapy with exercise for 3 patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the great toe.Clinical FeaturesThree patients, a 32-year-old man, a 55-year-old woman, and a 49-year-old woman, had great toe pain of 8, 1, and 2 years, respectively. Each had a palpable exostosis, a benign outgrowth of bone projecting outward from the bone surface, and decreased dorsiflexion with a hard end-feel.Intervention and OutcomeManual manipulative therapy with exercise, the Brantingham protocol, was used with patients receiving 6, 9, and 12 treatments over 6 weeks. Specific outcome measures for hallux rigidus and the foot were chosen to document the effects of this intervention including digital inclinometry, the lower extremity functional scale, the foot functional index, overall therapy effectiveness and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Each patient had an increase in range of motion that surpassed the minimal clinically important change, an increase in the overall therapy effectiveness and a decrease in the foot functional index that surpassed the minimally clinically important difference. Most importantly for the patients, each reported a decrease in both usual and worst pain on the VAS that exceeded the minimally clinically important difference of 20 to 30 mm.ConclusionThe 3 patients reported decreased pain measured by the VAS, increased range of motion and minimally clinically important difference in 3 other outcome measures.