Congenital clubfoot: results of treatment of 54 cases

Fifty-four patients with congenital clubfoot (total: 82 club feet) were observed at the 2nd Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of Rome University from 1970 to 1980. The conclusions of this study were the following: The patients with congenital clubfoot who had a uniform treatment from the beginning at the same hospital obtained better results than those who received previous treatments at other hospitals. A relapse was considered as a recurrence of the initial deformity after complete recovery and not as an incompletely corrected congenital clubfoot. In many of the patients with clubfoot who were treated, no direct correlations existed between the radiographic and clinical results. Of the patients with clubfoot who received an early treatment by posterior release, 89% had excellent and good results. One- or two-stage posteromedial releases did not prevent relapses, even though those done in one stage obtained better results. The transfer of the anterior tibial tendon to the third cuneiform proved to be the most effective procedure to prevent and correct relapses.