3C osteotomy for children with clubfoot deformity

There are appropriate treatment methods for children of different ages with clubfoot deformities. Most infants and children are treated conservatively with plaster and braces. The older ones can be treated with muscle balancing surgery. In adolescents with severe deformities, 3-joint fusion can be considered. However, the long-term outcome of 3-joint fusion has recently been reported to be poor, leading to foot pain and ankle degeneration after many years. Moreover, it affects the development of the foot and can make the foot smaller. Recently, 3C osteotomy has gained acceptance for the treatment of foot deformities, which was designed by Prof. Mubarak at Sandiego Children’s Hospital in the United States and has proven its effectiveness in clinical practice. Its advantages are that it does not change the size of the foot, does not affect the development of the foot, has satisfactory orthopedic results, and does not cause long-term degeneration. The age of surgery is usually 7-8 years or older. Foot deformities can be treated: clubfoot, flatfoot exostosis and clubfoot. The author studied with Dr. Mubarak in the United States and started to apply 3C osteotomy in China in 2009 to treat foot deformities in children with satisfactory and reliable results, which is worth to be widely promoted in China.