Club foot treatment in Malawi - a public health approach.

UNLABELLED: PURPOSE. Malawi is a very poor country with a current population of 12 million people and very few orthopaedic surgeons or physiotherapists. An estimated 1125 babies are born per year with club foot. If these feet are not corrected early, then severe deformity can develop, requiring complex surgery. A task force was established to address this problem using locally available resources. METHODS: A nationwide early manipulation programme was set up using the Ponseti technique, and a club foot clinic established in each of Malawi's 25 health districts. One year later the clinics were reviewed. RESULTS: Twenty out of the 25 clinics originally established were still active, and over one year had seen a total of 342 patients. Adequate records existed for 307 patients, of whom 193 were male and 114 female (ratio 1.7:1). A total of 175 patients had bilateral club foot and 132 were unilateral (ratio 1.3:1) giving a total of 482 club feet; 327 of the 482 feet were corrected to a plantigrade position. Most clinics had problems with supply of materials. Many patients failed to attend the full course of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Overall the establishment of a nationwide club foot treatment programme was of benefit to a large number of children with club feet and their families. In a poor country with many demands on health funding many challenges remain. The supply of plaster of Paris and splints was inadequate, clinic staff felt isolated, and patient compliance was limited by many factors which need further research.

Ponseti technique of correcting idiopathic clubfoot deformity.

The efficacy of the Ponseti method of clubfoot treatment at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) was analysed from December 2000 to December 2001. Ninety one patients, 60 boys and 31 girls were prospectively and consecutively enrolled. 31 patients had a unilateral clubfoot and 60 had bilateral clubfeet. 77 patients had primary idiopathic clubfoot and 14 patients had clubfeet associated with other congenital anomalies such as arthrogryposis. 32 patients (35%) were lost to follow up; records were inadequate for 6 patients leaving 54 patients (59%) available for analysis. Three main groups were assessed. Group 1 (24 patients): virgin previously untreated primary idiopathic clubfeet: Ponseti method used from outset. Group 2 (19 patients): complex, primary idiopathic clubfeet: Ponseti method introduced after other manipulation techniques. Group 3 (11 patients): clubfeet associated with other congenital anomalies. In group 1, the mean age at start of treatment was 9.7 weeks and the mean time to correction of deformity was 7.4 weeks. 20 out of 24 patients (84%) had correction of deformity and remained corrected. 4 patients had recurrence of deformity mainly due to non compliance with treatment and correction was achieved once treatment restarted. In group 2, 19 patients had been on treatment for a mean period of 32 weeks prior to commencement of Ponseti treatment. In 17 of these patients the deformity was still uncorrected. Ponseti treatment was commenced at a mean age of 36 weeks and correction was achieved in all 17 patients after a mean treatment duration of 7.1 weeks. In group 3, correction of deformity was initially achieved in only 60%. The period to achieve correction was long and incidence of recurrence of deformity was high. The success of conservative treatment of clubfeet using the Ponseti method has resulted in large decrease in the number of surgical procedures performed under general anaesthaesia such as posteromedial releases in the treatment of clubfeet at QECH. This method has now been adopted as the Standard treatment of clubfoot and is being advocated nationwide.