Clubfoot: Ponseti Management

Early Detection and Correction of Clubfoot will save your child’s feet!

Jennifer Wambui; Chief Exec. Director, CaCAI

Clubfoot on my left foot never stopped me from being a photo-model!

…Or a gospel artist

….Or be a TV actress

….Or try to be a

It wasn’t easy nevertheless!

I had to go through an excruciating pain of six surgeries; painful,

expensive and not very effective!

How I wish doctors then new about the Ponseti Method……

• I wouldn’t have experienced the dreadful pain• The method would have corrected my foot

effectively enabling me to wear high- heeled shoes, which I sorely miss today!

• My parents wouldn’t have spend much money

Hence CaCAI…………

To ensure no other child goes through this hell, Clubfoot Correction Awareness Initiative

(CaCAI) was born!

CaCAI’s core mission is to…….

• Raise awareness on the need for early detection and correction of Clubfoot via the Ponseti Method. Early intervention is pain- free, inexpensive and effective.

The Ponseti Method…….

• The Ponseti method is a manipulative technique that corrects congenital clubfoot without invasive surgery. It was developed by the late Dr. Ignacio V. Ponseti of the University of Iowa, USA in the 1950s

The Ponseti Method has………

• Over the past decades become accepted throughout the world as the most effective and least expensive treatment of clubfoot

When should the Ponseti management start?

• When possible, start soon after birth (7 to 10 days). However, most clubfoot deformities can be corrected throughout childhood using this management.

When treatment is started early, how many cast changes are usually required?

• Most clubfoot deformities can be corrected in approximately 6 weeks by weekly manipulations followed by plaster cast applications. If the deformity is not corrected after six or seven plaster cast changes, the treatment is most likely faulty.

When is it late for the Ponseti Method?

• The goal is to start treatment in the first few weeks after birth. However, correction can be achieved in many cases until late childhood.

Still useful when delayed?

• Management that is delayed until early childhood may be started with Ponseti casts. In some cases, operative correction will be required, but the magnitude of the procedure may be less than would have been necessary without Ponseti management.

Did you know……..

• When one parent is affected with clubfoot, there is a 3% to 4% chance that the offspring will also be affected. However, when both parents are affected, the offspring have a 30% chance of developing clubfoot.

Just so you know……

• Surgery improves the initial appearance of the foot but does not prevent recurrence. Adult foot and ankle surgeons report that these surgically treated feet become weak, stiff, and often painful in adult life.

Most information is courtesy of…

Global HELP Organization

CaCAI urges you to…

Spread the word. Thank you!By Jennifer Wambui

All is with my feet!