Congenital clubfoot is an orthopedic disorder that develops during fetal development. It should be treated from the first days of a baby's life, as long as the muscles and tissues of the foot are sufficiently pliable and elastic. Location: Location:
The causes of congenital clubfoot can be a lack of vitamins in the diet of a pregnant woman or heredity. Clubfoot can be noticed by such external signs as inverted feet (raised inner edge of the foot, lowered outer edge, turned inward of the foot).
The most common treatment for clubfoot is with plaster casts, pioneered by orthopedic surgeon Ponseti. This method is used in the leading clinics of our country.
The course of treatment consists of 3 stages. In the first stage, the deformity of the child's foot is corrected by applying weekly plaster casts, covering the tips of the fingers and reaching the upper third of the thigh. The disturbed shape of the foot is straightened due to the fact that each next bandage is applied in a new position.
The duration of the first stage is 4 to 7 weeks. A break in the application of plaster casts is unacceptable, but in case of severe damage to the skin (dryness, cracks), it is possible to use plaster castings.
The second stage is the process of lengthening the Achilles tendon. with clubfoot, it is shortened. Usually, doctors perform a closed-type achillotomy without injecting anesthesia. For babies under the age of two, it lasts only a few minutes.
The procedure ends with the application of plaster for up to three weeks. Subsequently, all functions of the tendon are restored fairly quickly.
Next, you should consolidate the result. To do this, at the third stage, special braces are used (boots that fix the position of the foot), which must be worn constantly, excluding only the time of bathing and changing clothes of the baby. After three months, the brace is only worn during sleep. In order to avoid the return of deformation, these boots are used for two to four years.
Thus, a timely and fully completed course of treatment allows you to get rid of congenital clubfoot.
