1. Hammer-toe and claw-toe deformities are treated most satisfactorily by lengthening the contracted soft structures and by performing an arthrodesis on the proximal interphalangeal joint.
2. An arthrodesis is assured by reshaping the head and distal extremity of the proximal phalanx to resemble a truncated cone and fitting it into a cavity of like shape in the base of the second phalanx.
3. Claw-toe deformity of the fifth toe is not amenable to treatment by an arthrodesing operation, but the deformity and keratoses may be relieved by excision of the head and a portion of the shaft of the proximal phalanx.