The Oxford club-foot programme

Abstract

We treated 63 club feet in 44 patients by a defined programme of strapping from birth followed by one of two operations performed at six weeks, either a simple calcaneal tendon lengthening or a subtalar realignment, and reviewed them prospectively. The decision as to which operation to perform was taken at four weeks after radiographic measurement of the talocalcaneal angle. All but eight patients (ten feet) were followed for a mean of 8.7 years. The overall results after calcaneal tendon lengthening were satisfactory. The re-operation rate after subtalar realignment was high (39%) due to over or undercorrection of the deformity.