Litigation after hallux valgus surgery in France between 2000 and 2020: A review of the two national legal research databases

The objectives of this review were to: 1) describe reasons for lawsuits following primary hallux valgus surgery in France from 2000 to 2020; 2) to compare private and public practice. Civil (private practice) and administrative (public practice) court decisions in France between 2000 and 2020 were collected using the two leading legal data sources (Legifrance, Doctrine). Seventy-two court decisions related to hallux valgus surgery were included. An appeal was filed in 93% of cases. Finally, 70.8% of the verdicts were in favor of the complainants. The average compensation awarded to a plaintiff was €55,333. The main reasons for complaint after hallux valgus surgery were: a failure to provide preoperative information (47.2%), post-operative pain/stiffness (38.9%), and infection (30.6%). A proven lack of information increased the risk of recognizing the occurrence of post-operative pain and stiffness as faulty from 13.3% to 61.5% (p = 0.01), and the average compensation from €25,330 to €76,716 (p = 0.04). The duration of the procedure was about 1.5 years longer in civil proceedings (p = 0.04). There was no significant difference between private and public activity litigation. Clear and adapted patient information and its traceability could be a way to reduce the number of complaints and their consequences in case of disappointing results.