Bioabsorbable magnesium versus standard titanium compression screws for fixation of distal metatarsal osteotomies - 3 year results of a randomized clinical trial.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

For the treatment of hallux valgus commonly distal metatarsal osteotomies are performed.

Persistent problems due to the hardware and the necessity of hardware removal has led to the development of absorbable implants.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 26 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

26 patients with symptomatic hallux valgus were included in the study.

The patients had a standardized clinical follow up and MRI investigation 3 years' post-surgery.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

They were randomly selected to be treated with a magnesium or standard titanium screw for fixation of a modified distal metatarsal osteotomy.

The clinical tests included the range of motion of the MTP 1, the AOFAS, FAAM and SF-36 scores.

Further on the pain was evaluated on a VAS.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Absorbable Implants, Bone Screws, Hallux Valgus, Magnesium, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Metatarsal Bones and Observer Variation.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 26 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2018 (Journal of orthopaedic science : official journal of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association), a journal based in Japan.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.