Effectiveness of Ponseti Method for the Treatment of Congenital Talipes Equinovarus: Personal Experience

Congenital talipes equinovarus, also known as clubfoot, is a relatively common skeletal deformity characterized by an excessively turned-in foot and a high medial longitudinal arch. Three different forms of this disorder have been identified: positional or postural, idiopathic, and teratogenic or syndromic. The etiopathogenesis of this anomaly is not clearly known. Two genes, PITX-1 and RBM-10, have recently been reported to play direct or indirect roles in the pathogenesis of clubfoot. Clinical diagnosis is at a glance; X-ray analysis is initially unnecessary but should be used after treatment to follow the outcome. Various surgical or nonsurgical methods of treatment have been applied to treat this disorder, including the Kite, Cincinnati, Bensahel/Dimeglio, and Turco techniques. Actually the Ponseti method has been considered the gold standard technique for treatment of this disorder. We treated 132 children affected by clubfoot using the Ponseti method, with good/excellent results in 94% of the treated feet. Our experience confirms the effectiveness of the Ponseti method in the treatment of clubfoot.