Results of manipulative treatment of congenital club foot. Review of seventy-six cases after more than six years.

The authors draw the following conclusions from a long-term review (six to twenty-eight years) of seventy-six cases of congenital club foot, treated by the "classical" method of moulding therapy, sometimes in association with elongation of the Achilles tendon: --There was a high percentage of poor and moderate results (32.7 per cent), though this is lower than the average values reported by other authors (fifty to sixty per cent); --Elongation of the Achilles tendon (performed late, between the ninth and fourteenth month of life) still significantly reduced the percentage of unsatisfactory results (twenty-four per cent in the cases operated on); --Residual deformities between fairly well-marked limits were well tolerated. --The "classic" moulding therapy should and can be modified in the interests of improving our results, (earlier or more radical surgery where indicated) but does not deserve to be abandoned completely.