Congenital Club Foot in Children Younger than 24 Months: Decancelous Cuboid Combined with Selective Soft Tissue Release

Purpose: To evaluate 2 surgical prosedures in treatment of congenital clubfeet in children younger than 24 months. Materials and Methods: Data were analyzed on 319 patients (448 feet) from July 1990 to December 2005. Clinical and classification for all patients according to Diméglio. Operated patients were divided into two groups: group 1, selective soft tissue release; and group 2, selective soft tissue release combined with cuboid decancellation. Surgical results were classified according to McKay’s system. Results: There were 103 females (32.3%) and 216 males (67.7%) in this study. There were 192 patients (268 feet) in group 1, 127 patients (180 feet) in group 2. Bilateral involvement was found in 129 patients (40.4%), only the left foot affected in 65 patients (20.4%), and only the right in 125 patients (39.2%). According to the classification of Diméglio Grade II was seen in 32.4%, Grade III in 53.1%, and Grade IV in 14.5%. Postoperatively, in group 1, we got excellent result in 29.1%, good result in 49.2%, fair result in 18.3%, and poor result in 3.4%. In group 2, we attained excellent result in 50.6%, good result in 42.2%, fair result in 6.1% and poor result in 1.1%. The good to excellent result in group 2 was significantly higher in group 1 with p = 0.000042. There was no failure in both groups. Residual adduction of forefoot in frontal plane was seen in 78.0% of group 1, and 10.6% of group 2, which was also statistically significant with p ~ 0. Conclusion: Generally speaking, the procedure of selective soft tissue releases combined with cuboid decancellation showed an outstanding result with good to excellent result of 92.8%. Surgical procedure is simple, safe, and applicable for all patients with clubfeet’s deformyties.