The initial treatment of congenital idiopathic clubfoot (CIC) is nonoperative. Either the French physiotherapy method or the Ponseti casting method may be used. Whether either method is superior over the other remains unclear. However, the method used initially is not the only determinant of the final outcome.

The primary objective was to identify determinants of the final outcome as evaluated based on the need for surgical treatment and on the Ghanem-Seringe score.

Factors associated with the final outcome can be identified.

Between 2004 and 2011, 100 CICs in 79 patients were treated in two centres, 47 using the French method and 53 the Ponseti method. The Dimeglio grade was determined at baseline and the Ghanem-Seringe score at last follow-up. Surgical procedures (if any), splinting duration, and rehabilitation therapy duration were recorded. The two groups showed no statistically significant differences for Dimeglio grade distribution, time from birth to treatment initiation, or mean follow-up.

Factors significantly associated with a poor outcome by univariate analysis were use of the Ponseti method (P=0.0027), older age at last follow-up (P=3×10⁻⁴), initial Dimeglio grade (P=7×10⁻⁵), and need for surgery (P=10⁻⁵); no significant effect was found for splinting duration, rehabilitation duration, bilateral involvement, or antenatal diagnosis. By multivariate analysis, factors independently associated with a poor prognosis were older age at last follow-up, Dimeglio grade, and need for surgery.

This study confirms the major prognostic significance of initial severity (Dimeglio grade) on the final outcome. The data do not firmly establish that one method is superior over the other. Nevertheless, the need for percutaneous Achilles tenotomy with the Ponseti method leads us to prefer the French physiotherapy method.

IV, retrospective study.