Clubfoot Deformity

Clubfoot deformity treatment consists of two phases in casting and bracing.  This condition will not improve on its own so don’t assume you can move forward without treatment.  The serial casting treatment process, referred to as the Ponseti technique, requires a stretching and manipulation of the foot and its holding with the use of  cast.  The cast is added after about a week’s time and changed each ensuing week to two weeks.  The addition of the fourth cast occurs with a procedure in our office that ultimately lengthens the Achilles tendon.  This procedure is performed with the use of a local medicine for numbing and a diminutive blade.  A final cast is added for the ensuing two to three weeks to correct the infant’s foot deformity.  Bracing is then added to maintain this correction.  If bracing is not applied, the clubfoot would inevitably redevelop. 

The infant is fit with a customized supramalleolar orthosis complete with a bar on the day that the final cast is removed.  The braces are donned for upwards of 23 hours a day across a period of two months for half the day, all the way up until the child reaches the age at which he or she enters kindergarten.  The treatment of clubfoot corrects it to the point that it resembles a regular foot.  If performed correctly, this correction does not hold a child back from regular activities.  However, if absolutely necessary, surgery will be performed to correct severe clubfoot.  This procedure lengthens the foot’s tendons and realigns the joints and bones.