Aims

To systematically review the efficacy of split tendon transfer surgery on gait-related outcomes for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) and spastic equinovarus foot deformity.

The December 2023 Children’s orthopaedics Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: A comprehensive nonoperative treatment protocol for developmental dysplasia of the hip in infants; How common are refractures in childhood?; Femoral nailing for paediatric femoral shaft fracture in children aged eight to ten years; Who benefits from allowing the physis to grow in slipped capital femoral epiphysis?; Paediatric patients with an extremity bone tumour: a secondary analysis of the PARITY trial data; Split tibial tendon transfers in cerebral palsy equinovarus foot deformities; Liposomal bupivacaine nerve block: an answer to opioid use?; Correction with distal femoral transphyseal screws in hemiepiphysiodesis for coronal-plane knee deformity.

We reviewed the results of a selective à la carte soft-tissue release operation for recurrent or residual deformity after initial conservative treatment for idiopathic clubfoot by the Ponseti method. Recurrent or residual deformity occurred in 13 (19 feet) of 33 patients (48 feet; 40%). The mean age at surgery was 2.3 years (1.3 to 4) and the mean follow-up was 3.6 years (2 to 5.3). The mean Pirani score had improved from 2.8 to 1.1 points, and the clinical and radiological results were satisfactory in all patients. However, six of the 13 patients (9 of 19 feet) had required further surgery in the form of tibial derotation osteotomy, split anterior tibialis tendon transfer, split posterior tibialis transfer or a combination of these for recurrent deformity.

We concluded that selective soft-tissue release can provide satisfactory early results after failure of initial treatment of clubfoot by the Ponseti method, but long-term follow-up to skeletal maturity will be necessary.