The functional outcome of staged surgery for the correction of talipes equinovarus

Between 1988 and 1995, 110 idiopathic clubfeet from a cohort of 120 recalcitrant feet in 86 patients requiring surgical treatment were studied. There were 61 male and 25 female patients. The mean age at surgery was 9.5 months. In 91 feet, the surgery consisted of an initial plantarmedial release, followed 2 weeks later by a posterolateral release. Nineteen feet required only a posterolateral release. Feet were categorised preoperatively and prospectively according to a system suggested by Dimeglio into four groups, and the rates of relapse and wound healing data were previously reported. This paper reports the functional outcome of this cohort of idiopathic clubfeet and the results are related to the preoperative grade, the patient's gender, the age at which the child first walked, and whether the deformity is unilateral or bilateral. The interim functional outcome is good in the majority of cases despite a high rate of relapse in the more severe deformities.