What is Clubfoot

Although welcoming the arrival of a new life is a very happy thing, in the process of welcoming the arrival of life, parents must carefully observe themselves to see if the baby has some congenital diseases. When parents find that their baby's feet are in a deformed state for a long time, it is very likely caused by clubfoot. Next, I will share with you some knowledge about clubfoot.

Clubfoot is a common and frequently occurring disease in children. Its etiology is still unclear. Most scholars believe that this deformity is caused by abnormal development or unbalanced muscle development due to the influence of internal and external factors in the early stages of embryonic development. It may also be related to the malposition of the fetus' feet in the mother's uterus. Traumatic equinus is a special ankle position caused by indirect or direct violence, such as posterior malleolus fracture, talus dislocation or ankle sprain.

Clinical manifestations

1. Symptoms: drooping, heel pointing upward, outer edge of the foot touching the ground and sole pointing backward, shaped like a golf club, so this disease is also called golf club foot. Due to the above phenomenon, the heel is inverted, the front part of the foot is adducted, and the talus head bulges on the dorsal and lateral sides.

2. Type: There are two types:

① The slender (loose type) foot is thin in appearance, with mild deformity, and it is easy to put the foot in a neutral position with manipulation. The calf circumference is similar to that of the healthy side. Non-surgical treatment is effective.

② Short and fat type (rigid type): The foot is fat and short, the heel is small, the deformity is serious, and the calf circumference is thinner than the healthy side. The deformity is not easy to correct by manipulation and often requires surgical treatment.

3. X-ray manifestations: The anteroposterior X-ray shows that the talar-calcaneal angle (the intersection angle between the talar axis and the calcaneal axis) is <30°. The intersection angle between the longitudinal axis of the talus and the longitudinal axis of the metatarsal is 0° to 20°. Combining the measurement results of the above two angles is helpful for diagnosis. The lateral X-ray film shows that the intersection angle between the longitudinal axis of the talus and the tangent line of the plantar surface of the calcaneus is <30°, otherwise there is foot drop.

Diagnosis

1. The baby has plantar flexion and varus deformity on one or both sides of the foot after birth.

2. The front part of the foot is adducted and inverted, the talus is plantar flexed, the calcaneus is plantar flexed and inverted, and the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia are contracted; the forefoot becomes wider, the heel becomes narrower, the arch of the foot is high, and the outer edge of the foot is bulging; the lateral malleolus protrudes forward, and the medial malleolus is posterior and not obvious.

3. When standing, weight is borne on the outer edge of the foot. In severe cases, weight is borne on the outer side of the dorsum of the foot, and bursae and calluses are produced in the weight-bearing area.

4. Unilateral deformity will cause limping when walking; bilateral deformity will cause unsteady walking.

5. X-rays show that the longitudinal axes of the talus and the first metatarsal bone and the longitudinal axes of the calcaneus and the fourth and fifth metatarsal bones are not parallel, forming an angle; the angle between the longitudinal axes of the talus and the calcaneus is less than 30° (normal is 30°~35°).