Results of lapidus arthrodesis and locked plating with early weight bearing.

In the endeavor toward Lapidus fusion, the authors have studied a new application of locked plating for the first tarsometatarsal joint. The goal was to assess the time to fusion, time to ambulation, rate of delayed union/nonunion, rate of revision, and need for hardware removal following the use of locked-plate technology in the fusion of the first tarsometatarsal joint. The findings denoted an average of 6.95 weeks to radiographic fusion, an average of 2 weeks to ambulation, a 9.52% rate of asymptomatic mal-union, a 0% rate of delayed union or nonunion, and a 0% rate of revision. The rate of need for hardware removal was 4.76%.