Club foot deformity conservative versus operative treatment

الملخص EN

Background : congenital talipes equinovarus is a complex deformity of foot .It is a collection of different abnormalities, with different etiologies.

Consequently, Severity varies with difficulties in evaluating treatment strategies with outcome results.

Clubfoot deformity consists of adduction of the forefoot, inversion and varus of the hind foot, and equines at the ankle and subtalar joints, some cases are complicated by an additional cavus deformity.

The severity of clubfoot varies widely from case to case, ranging from deformed but flexible to extremely rigid and difficult to move.

The treatment of congenital club foot remains controversial.

The results of any form of treatment vary according to the severity of the deformity.

Usually, the orthopedist's goal is to obtain anatomically and functionally normal feet in all patients, but this is not realistic because in many club feet the deformities of the bone , joint, and ligaments of the foot and ankle are too severe to be fully corrected.

Before 1950 extensive posteromedial soft-tissue releases were done commonly in different clinics to achieve an anatomical correction of the deformity.

These operations often resulted in considerable stiffness of the foot and ankle, and recurrences or over-corrections of the deformity were observed In this study which was done in three hospitals in Baghdad in the period between 5th of April 1995 and 20th of May 2004, we depended mainly on conservative methods of the treatment of clubfeet.

Aim : Validity of early conservative treatment in clubfeet Patients and Methods : the number of patients involved in this study were 470 (745 feet), 323 were male and 147 were female.

It involved only patients with age less than six months.

Each patient in this study filled out a questionnaire that provides information.

Full Examination, general and local, full neurological examination.

Radiological assessment also done for every patient.

The protocol of treatment was modified Ponseti method.

Follow up of patients for four years.

The patients were divided into two groups.

Group A, included patients age less than one month, while group B, included patients age between.

One to six months Results : The male to female ratio was 2.2:1.

Group A- patients were 315, while group B, were 155 patients.

Bilateral was 51.7 %.

Simple clubfoot was 77 %.

Radiologicl assessment before starting the treatment, 85 % of patients, their talo-calcaneal indices were 0-40 degrees and 15 % were 40-50 degrees and after 9 months of treatment, we found that 80 % of uncorrected patients their indices were 34-40 degrees and 205 with indices of 40-50 degrees.

After 6 weeks of conservative treatment in group A 83.8 % got correction, while in group B, 56 % only.

After 9 weeks of conservative, in group A 91.4 % were corrected, while in group B only 58.7 % were corrected.

Percutaneous tenotomy of T.A.

was done in8.3 % of group A, while in group B in 18.7 %.

Soft tissue release with or without tendon transfer was done in 3.2 % in group A and in group B was 25.8 %.

Follow up for 4 years, 14 patients (4 %) developed relapse in group A, while in group B, 22 patients(14.2 %).

The results, using rating system the result in both groups were excellent in 42 %, good in 24 %, fair in 8.4 %, and poor in 25.6 % (7.9 % in group A, and 43.2 % in group B).