Ped Orthos, Podiatrists, Orthos, Physical Therapists, Orthotists, G.P.s

[Guest guest]

Something that I have wondered about occasionally over the years is

who is it that treats children with clubfoot. My assumption is that

in the U.S. most children are treated by pediatric orthopedists,

although it greatly depends on who the delivering doctor and initial

pediatrician refer the parents to. But there are also Podiatrists,

Adults Orthos, Physical Therapists, Orthotists and possibly some

General Practitioners (G.P's)

In the U.S., most children are probably treated by pediatric

orthopedists. Some ped orthos are members of POSNA (Pediatric

Orthopedic Society of North America) and some ped orthos are not

members.

POSNA provides a web site that lists their members names and

addresses at http://www.posna.org/index?

service=page/memberDirectory

But I have not figured out a good way to find the names and

addresses of ped orthos that are not members of POSNA.

POSNA's web site has had for the past year or two a core curriculum

of conditions that they treat with some of the basic principles that

can be used. http://www.posna.org/index?service=page/coreCurriculum

In addition, there are some doctors who treat clubfoot who are

General Orthopedists, although this has probably gone away a bit

since POSNA was formed in the early 1960's. Some of the adult and

pediatric orthopedic organizations with web sites are listed below.

Organizations

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Online

Academic Orthopaedic Society

American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society

Mid-America Orthopaedic Association

Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North American

Southern Orthopaedic Association

Western Orthopaedic Association

International Organizations

Australian Orthopaedic Association

Belgian Association of Pediatric Orthopaedics

British Society for Children's Orthopaedic Surgery

Canadian Orthopedic Society

Clinical Orthopaedic Society

Eastern Orthopaedic Association

European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society

Internet Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology

Kinderorthopaedie Kinderorthopädie Orthopädie Orthopaedie VKO

Paediatric Orthopaedic Society of India

La Sociedad Argentina de Ortopedia yTraumatología Infantil

La Società Italiana di Ortopedia e Traumatologia Pediatrica

Taiwan Pediatric Orthopaedic Society

There are also other international pediatric orthopedic related

groups other than these

http://www.mliles.com/pedortho/index.shtml

There are also some Podiatrists who treat clubfoot. Dr.

Colburn is an excellent example of a podiatric doctor who learned

about the Ponseti method in the fall of 1999 and has become very

expert at it's use. I believe that he was one of the first doctors

to use the Ponseti method west of Iowa. He has spoken about the

Ponseti method at a number of medical conferences. His society the

American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons did a press release in

2002 recommending the use of the Ponseti method.

http://www.acfas.org/scientabOct9.html

There are some Physical Therapist who use French or other

physiotherapy methods to treat clubfoot. My guess is that most

physiotherapists are working in coordination with some other

orthopedic doctor. The most active of these groups are out of the

Texas ish Rite Hospital in Dallas.

There have also apparently been some General Practitioners who have

treated clubfoot in the past although I doubt that this is common

today.

There are apparently also some orthotists who also treat clubfoot.

Since we have not come across many orthotists who indicate that they

treat clubfoot in direct interaction with a patient, it is hard to

tell how many do.

Our original ped orthos office was about 1 mile from our home before

we traveled 1,500 miles one way to see Dr. Ponseti. Since our

original ped orthos office was near our home, I drive by it all the

time. About 3-4 years ago, I noticed an orthotics office sign on a

building across the street from our original ped orthos office. I

decided to stop and visit and see if they carried the Markell Shoes

and FAB/DBB in case I wanted to buy shoes through them.

The owner said that he could get Markell products and that he

occasionally supplied different orthotics items to our original ped

ortho. I asked him what he knew about clubfoot and/or the Ponseti

method. He was not aware of the Ponset method, but said that he

supplied different materials to our original doctor and that he was

already treating other children with clubfoot and was interested in

learing more about the Ponseti method. I told him all about the

Ponseti method and brought him back some Ponseti video's the next

day. I could not figure out how he got patients referred to him but

assume that he must have gotten a few. The group he was with is a

very large Orthotics and Prosthetics supplier with almost 600

offices in the U.S. I should probably stop in and ask him some more

questions now that it is 3-4 years later. By the way our original

ped ortho later switched over to the Ponseti method about 2-3 years

ago.

Although I do not know it for sure, my assumption is that Chad's

group is an orthotics provider that also treats clubfoot either as

the primarly care providers or else working with a local doctor who

is not a member or POSNA. It is possible that they are provided

referals from other local Porland Maine doctors.

Does anyone else have experience in having primary clubfoot

treatment from an orthotics supplier, general practicioner or some

other less common group. What was your experience like. Thanks for

your input.

and (3-17-99)