New concept of and approach to clubfoot treatment: Section III--evaluation and results.

This final section on the new concept of and approach to treatment of clubfoot is the evaluation of 102 clubfeet treated over a 6-year period. Fifty-five unoperated feet received the surgical procedure described in Section II based on principles described in Section I. An attempt is made to evaluate the validity of correction of horizontal subtalar rotation, early ankle motion, recession of flexor tendon sheath on ankle motion and flexor hallucis longus function, early surgery, and release of the interosseous ligament. The results indicate that correction of horizontal subtalar rotation is beneficial and results in marked improvement in ankle motion by flexor tendon sheath recession and early motion. Longer follow-up is needed to determine the proper age for surgery. A rating system is developed and suggested for routine follow-up and comparison.