Treatment of Infantile Blount Disease: An Update

Although the core principles of managing infantile Blount disease generally remain unchanged, treatment modalities have evolved over the years. Consensus has yet to be reached regarding the efficacy of bracing. Children with Blount disease commonly have advanced bone age, which may impact the timing and magnitude of (over) correction of angular deformity. Techniques of growth modulation, based on the tension band principle, continue to gain popularity. Although there are limited reports in the last decade on proximal tibial osteotomy for this developmental disorder, both acute and gradual correction remain viable treatment options in the appropriate setting. In certain older children (>7 y old) with advanced stages of the disease, a medial hemiplateau elevation combined with lateral proximal tibial hemiepiphysiodesis may be needed to address the epiphyseal deformity. Given the possibility of unpredictable proximal tibial physeal activity, all children with Blount disease should be followed at regular intervals till skeletal maturity. To provide sufficient granularity for pooled analyses and help establish evidence-based clinical guidelines, standardization of reporting clinical outcomes among children with Blount disease is encouraged.