Functional treatment of clubfoot: a new series of 350 idiopathic clubfeet with long-term follow-up.

Abstract

A new series of 350 previously unreported cases of clubfoot treated by the functional method are reported. One hundred and eighteen clubfeet were unilateral and 116 were bilateral. The follow-up ranged from 11 to 18 years, with an average of 14 years. The improvements in the technique of physical therapy increased the rate of good results up to 77% compared with our previously published series. In an effort to objectively compare these results with other series, the authors assessed all clubfeet using the "at birth classification" published in 1995. Outcome evaluation was performed when the patients were 6 years old, and final evaluation at the end of growth of the foot. This is the first major series to be assessed according to such objective criteria, as much before the inception of treatment as at the end of growth. The results of this new series have been compared with those obtained in our former series.