Club Foot Treatment
Club foot deformity affects 1 in 1000 live births. The Ponseti method of serial plaster casts is used in the initial treatment of children. Treatment is best carried out soon after birth and was pioneered by an American surgeon called Dr Ignacio Ponseti. A cast is applied to the baby after gently stretching the foot and the procedure repeated weekly until the deformity has resolved. The technique requires great expertise and attention to detail to obtain success.
Dr Uglow is one of the leading UK surgeons using the Ponseti method to treat club foot deformity and is a member of the UK Clubfoot Consensus Group (UKCCG). He has been using the Ponseti method since 2001 and had the privilege of visited The University of Iowa in July 2003 to meet Dr Ponseti and gain valuable experience in the technique having gained a travel award from The British Society for Children’s Orthopaedic Surgery (BSCOS).
An infant club foot before treatment
Infant club foot during application of final cast
A sequence of five casts from the same patient showing the weekly change in foot position.
Foot abduction brace
Dr Ignacio Ponseti who developed the international system for club foot deformity, pictured during Dr Uglow’s visit to him in Iowa, USA.
