title: Congenital cleft-foot deformity treatment.
abstract: A retrospective review of congenital cleft foot was done on 16 patients with 32 involved feet. The average age at the time of surgery was 4 years (range, 5 months to 13 years). The average follow-up after surgery was 7.8 years, with a range of 2-45 years. A simple classification based on severity of deficiency was developed. Twenty-three of the 24 procedures performed gave a satisfactory result. Six of the nine untreated feet were satisfactory. Based on our classification, the following treatment is recommended: type I, central partial forefoot cleft was treated by a soft-tissue syndactylism and a partial hallux valgus correction, if needed. Type II, for a complete forefoot cleft to the tarsus, soft-tissue syndactylism with first-ray osteotomy if necessary before age 5 years is recommended. First-ray amputation is advised after age 5 years. Type III: Complete absence of first through fourth ray did not need forefoot surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 60612, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Waxman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirali
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durkin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005532:Foot Deformities, Congenital / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013576:Syndactyly / Q000601:surgery*; D014034:Toes / Q000002:abnormalities*; D016896:Treatment Outcome