Outcome of clubfoot treatment in the pre-ponseti period in a Nigerian teaching hospital: a 14 year review

Background: Congenital Talipes Equinovarus (CTEV) is a common musculoskeletal congenital disorder. Historically, surgical treatment of various types was popular; however, currently the gold standard of treatment is non-operative care using the Ponseti method. This work evaluates the outcome of this former method of managing CTEV before author adopted the Ponseti Method and compares it with the reported outcomes of the Ponseti method in published literature.Methods: A retrospective review of this data from January 1990 to December 2003 was done, the patients demographics, treatment given, duration and outcome of care were analysed using descriptive statistics. This finding was then compared with outcomes of Ponseti method in literature.Results: Here, 145 patients had initial non operative care; eighteen of those patients (12.4%), eventually require either a posteromedial release, a combined posteromedial and posterolateral releases or a triple arthrodesis.Conclusions: The study shows that the success rate of this method of manipulation preceding the adoption of the Ponseti method is 87.6%. This outcome is inferior when compared to the outcome of Ponseti method in published literature. Also, the extensive nature of eventual surgical intervention required to achieve correction is in contrast to the minimal surgeries needed achieve correction of residual deformities following the use of the Ponseti method.