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| Year : 2002 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 1 | Page : 38-45 |
Changing trends in the treatment of clubfoot
ND. Mazumdar
Park children's centre for treatment & research, 4, Gorky terrace, Kolkata-700017
Correspondence Address:
ND. Mazumdar
Park children's centre for treatment & research, 4, Gorky terrace, Kolkata-700017
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
ABSTRACT: Clubfoot remains an unsolved problem, inspite of serious research through centuries. Although Egyptians and Aztecs knew about clubfoot in ancient times, the treatment of clubfoot was first documented by Hippocrates. The treatment pattern has changed through centuries from repeated gentle manual correction and mechanical devices for gradual correction to forcible correction using splints or wrenches. Use of adhesive plaster for the correction of clubfoot, has been succeeded by use of plaster of paris cast. The present author has tried a new forefoot abduction device in the treatment of clubfoot. Surgery after failure of conservative treatment has been in practice since the late eighteenth century. The operative procedures included soft tissue surgery for early correction of deformity and bony surgery in late cases where secondary bony changes have occurred. Tendon transfers and correction of supramalleolar lateral tibial rotation in clubfoot by osteotomy have also been suggested by various authors. Slow and controlled distraction of soft tissues by different devices has been used in the twentieth century for correcting clubfoot. Inspite of various methods for the correction of clubfoot the mainstays of treatment are correction of contracted soft tissues at an early age and bony surgery for secondary deformities.
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