To those new to the Ponseti Method

[Guest guest]

I'm going to re-post this again, as I feel it's VERY important to

remind new parents about educating themselves enough about the

Ponseti method in order to ask educated questions of your doctors.

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There seems to me to be a new dilemma coming about. Now that there

are more parents seeking out Ponseti trained doctors, as well as many

doctors who have gone to Iowa for training, there will be those

doctors who are learning it so they won't lose patients. There will

also be doctors who say they utilize the Ponseti method, but have not

received training at all...maybe they've read the book. Also, just

because a doctor is trained in the method, does NOT mean they can

execute the method sucessfully. This is why it is important to ask

lots of questions of your PedOrtho; ie how long have you been

practicing the Ponseti technique? How many casts does it typically

take you to correct? How many children do you treat each year? At

what point in treatment do you do the tenotomy?

These questions should be answerable immediately. For example,, How

many casts does it typically take you to correct the foot? The

answer SHOULD be no more than 9. If a doctor says, " Well, that

depends on the foot " and then goes on to say it can take anywhere

from 2-6 months, this is probably not the most qualified person to

see. Also, the answer to the tenotomy question should be " it's the

LAST thing done after ALL aspects of the clubfoot deformity have been

corrected " once the post tenotomy casts are removed, baby should go

straight to the Foot Abduction Bar.

Because of all of the recent training that has been occurring with

the Ponseti method, there are many new doctors who could now be

considered " Trained " . This does not necessarily equate to a

practitioner who will be able to sucessfully execute the proceedure.

I know personally of a Ped Ortho, who trained TWICE, but could not

master the procedure. This Ortho, for whatever reason, could not

master the technique and subsequently has not be 'approved' by Dr.

Ponseti.

While there are more and more doctors receiving training, it is still

VERY important for parents to familiarize themselves with the

proceedure and the indicators of sucessful execution. A time may

come when the U of Iowa/Dr. Ponseti won't be able to personally back

the sucess of each doctor trained in the method. It would be nice if

they could set up a criteria that each doctor needs to meet to be

considered a Ponseti Method Practitioner--hopefully that will

happen. But, until then, we need to be ever vigilant in having the

parents stick together to keep an eye on all of these newly trained

doctors. Educate yourselves well enough to know what the key

factors/indicators are of a well trained doctor and a well executed

correction. If you don't know what kinds of questions to ask your

doctor, ask us. Bring up any concerns you have regarding what your

doctor is saying about treatment that doesn't 'jive' with what you've

learned by doing your research or heard at this group. While you

don't have to become well versed in the anatomy of the foot, you do

need to educate yourself. Make sure you read the papers that Dr.

Ponseti wrote at his website. Borrow a copy of his book from another

parent.

I just want to try to help prevent parents from being mis-lead

(wether intentional or not) by their doctors. Many of us have seen

this happen, and it's a very disheartening experience.

Lori Stime