A personal revolution in the development of clubfoot correction

This article presents the author's experience of having worked in London, England, under Denis Browne, whose method of treating equinovarus in the newborn involved manipulation of the baby feet until full correction had been achieved at the very first visit. The feet were then strapped to the sole plates of the Denis Browne splint, which ensured that the baby's normal kicking action maintained mobility at the subtalar joints and also a basic plantigrade posture. When he transferred to India, the author found a large population of children who had been born with talipes equinovarus, but who had never had treatment. He worked at obtaining correction without strong manipulation, using serial plaster casting followed by Denis Browne's splints. His personal reactions to the problems and the merits of the two methods forms the subject of this article.