Publication:

Management of congenital vertical talus: comparison between mini invasive reduction and extensive surgical technique in early age

Background About one baby in 10,000 is born with the foot deformity known as vertical talus. In about half of those cases, both feet are affected. The disorder occurs with equal frequency in boys and girls. Vertical talus is a rare deformity of the foot which is diagnosed at the time of birth.

Methods Present study was performed at Department of Orthopedics, Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Science, Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat. In the study 40 patients who were treated for unilateral or bilateral congenital vertical talus at a single institution which lead to 60 treated feet in the study. Patient with bilateral symptoms were randomly selected for one foot in the study.

Results The mean normative pain score was found to be 58.0 in the minimally invasive group compared with 28 in the extensive release group (p =0.032). There was no difference between the two groups in the transfer and basic mobility domain. The normative global function domain was higher in the minimally invasive group (48.3) compared with the extensive soft-tissue release group (34.3, p =0.03).

Conclusions Longer-term follow up and studies with large sample size are still necessary to determine whether the improved outcomes are maintained into the adulthood and whether the superior outcome is related to the reduce scarring in the patient.