One hundred and twenty-nine unselected club feet were classified at birth into three grades of severity; 123 were followed up. The results of primary treatment were analysed and it is shown that the bad feet did worst. Serial splinting in plasters achieved lasting correction in nine in ten mild club feet, in half of the moderately deformed, but in only one in ten of the severely affected. Surgi...

Hippocrates was the first to suggest that permanent crippling can follow abnormal intrauterine pressure. More recently, Browne (1936) has been the foremost exponent of the view that this is a major cause of congenital club feet. The theory had first been challenged in the early 19th century by the authors of several very detailed studies on the condition. Little (1839) felt that the variety of ...

Between 1994 and 1997 we used the Ilizarov apparatus to treat 12 recurrent arthrogrypotic club feet in nine patients with a mean age of 5.3 years (3.2 to 7). After a mean of three weeks (two to seven) for correction of the deformity and 1.5 weeks (one to four) for stabilisation in the apparatus, immobilisation in a cast was carried out for a mean of 14 weeks (7 to 24). The mean follow-up period...

Radiographs have been used as tools of diagnosis, prognosis and in selection and evaluation of treatment modalities of various types of deformities and fractures of the foot (Katz et al., 1997; Igbibi & Mutesasira, 2003; Dooley et al., 2004; Dobbs et al., 2006; Westberry et al., 2007; Aminian & Sangeorzan, 2008; Radler et al., 2010). Lateral talocalcaneal angle (L TCA) is an angle formed by a l...

We performed CT to investigate how treatment may modify the basic skeletal pathology of congenital club foot. Two homogenous groups of patients treated by one of the authors (EI) or under his supervision were studied. The first included 32 patients with 47 club feet reviewed at a mean age of 25 years and treated by manipulation, application of toe-to-groin plaster casts and an extensive postero...

An attempt has been made to assess the results of a method of treatment in 1 86 club feet in infants. The stimulus to study this problem came from the suggestion that insufficient knowledge was available to judge which of three early treatments was the best (Lloyd-Roberts 1964). It is hoped that this analysis may enable fact to replace supposition when the results of early treatment are discussed.

We treated 37 infants with 53 idiopathic club feet by posterolateral release alone at a mean age of 2.4 months. They were reviewed after a mean follow-up of 10 years 7 months. Both function and appearance were studied. Seventeen feet had required further surgery, at an average of four years after posterolateral release. In all cases hindfoot equinus had been well corrected; the mean ankle dorsi...

We reviewed the long-term results of the Diliwyn Evans procedure for club foot in 60 feet of 45 patients with an average age of 29 years, using four different scoring systems. The results at 12 to 38 years were compared with those of an earlier study of the same group of patients. Function was satisfactory in 68% offeet; 90% ofthe patients were able to perform all desired activities. Mild resid...