The role of spring-ligament in the development of planovalgus deformity. Literature review

Purpose of the study: to examine the available data on spring-ligament and its role in the development of flatfoot deformity

Materials and methods: An analysis of various medical literature sources containing data from both original and external studies on the diagnosis and treatment of ligamentous injuries in flatfoot deformity was conducted. Electronic medical and general scientific databases were used as sources: PubMed, ScienceDirect, eLIBRARY. A total of 74 scientific works were found based on the query: spring ligament, spring complex, adult acquired flatfoot deformity, progressive collapsing foot deformity, пружинная связка, плосковальгусная деформация стопы. For the literature review, 29 sources were selected. The time interval of the analyzed literature is from 1988 to 2025.

Results: The conducted study demonstrates that in recent decades, there has been a noticeable shift in focus from the importance of the posterior tibial tendon to the functioning of the ligamentous apparatus in the development of flatfoot deformity. Nevertheless, the primary method of correcting the deformity remains the performance of various types of osteotomies and arthrodesis, combined with or without soft tissue reconstruction. However, according to both clinical and anatomical studies, the reconstruction of the spring complex allows for significant correction of the deformity; however, long-term studies are lacking. The main questions that remain poorly studied at this time are the optimal timing and methodology for the reconstruction of the ligamentous apparatus of the foot.

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