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The New York Ponseti Clubfoot Center

Wallace B. Lehman, M.D., Director

 

The comprehensive treatment of clubfoot is available at the Center for Children at the Hospital for Joint Diseases. All modalities of treatment are used, depending on the type of clubfoot being treated. Treatment may be initiated by parental consultation with the staff following the diagnosis of a clubfoot in utero (by ultrasound), or after birth and continue through childhood, adolescence and to adulthood in the case of persistent clubfoot problems.

Clubfoot
Pre-treated clubfoot of a newborn child

 

Clubfoot treatment may consist of the following:

  • Iowa-Ponseti Technique, casting combined with minimally invasive surgery
  • Surgery – soft tissue releases
    • Posterior foot release (English technique)
    • Posteromedial foot release (Turco technique)
    • All inclusive posteromedial and lateral releases, including plantar release (McKay-Simmons technique)
    • Progressive soft tissue releases (Bensahel and Lehman a la carte technique)
    • Tendon transfers
    • Osteotomies of the foot and leg (in the older child)
    • External fixation to correct deformity (in the older child). May be of Russian (Ilizarov), Italian, or American variety (EBI).

Surgeries are performed at the Hospital for Joint Diseases or NYU Hospitals Center operating room suties and are all done under the supervision of pediatricians and pediatric anesthesiologists. The majority of procedures are done on an outpatient basis. If the patient is required to be hospitalized, he/she can elect to be admitted to either the Hospital for Joint Diseases or NYU Hospitals Center. Parents are required to be present at all times with their children, including the time of the surgery and overnight during hospital admissions.

All clubfeet are classified according to type, and children may be evaluated by other disciplines such as genetics and developmental pediatrics.

When necessary, braces or orthoses for daytime and nighttime use are ordered for clubfoot patients.

All children with clubfeet are followed until maturity and continued to be followed into adulthood.

The medical staff of the Center for Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at the Center for Children includes:

Gail Chorney, M.D.
David S. Feldman, M.D.
Alfred D. Grant, M.D.
Wallace B. Lehman, M.D.
Allan Strongwater, M.D.

To schedule an appointment or to obtain additional information, please contact
212-598-6682 or email us at centerforchildren@hjd.org