Corrective bandage for conservative treatment of metatarsus adductus: Retrospective study

Background. Metatarsus adductus (MA) is the most common congenital foot deformity observed in children. Objectives. The aims of this study were: (1) to analyze the evolution of a corrective bandage for semirigid MA in newborns and (2) to recommend the age interval at which to start treatment of MA with the corrective bandage alone, without the need of splints. Design. An observational clinical study was conducted. Methods. The study was conducted at Virgen Macarena University Hospital in Seville, Spain. Children born with semirigid MA at the hospital during the years 2010–2011 were included. Corrective bandaging was applied to all children until clinical correction of the deformity. Sex, laterality of the deformity, weight and length of the newborn, age at the start of treatment, antecedents related to the pregnancy and birth, type of treatment (bandaging, splints), and correction or no correction with bandaging alone were recorded. Age differences at the start of the bandaging treatment between children whose deformity was corrected with and without the need of splints were examined. The receiver operating characteristic curve method was applied to analyze the predictive ability of the age at the start of bandaging treatment relative to whether the deformity was corrected or not corrected with bandaging alone. Results. The bandage achieved complete correction in 68.1% of the children and corrected the deformity more frequently in girls compared with boys. Of the 56 children who began the treatment within the first month of life, 92.8% achieved correction of the foot deformity with the corrective bandaging alone. Limitations. Patients' follow-up time was only 2 years, so it was only feasible to analyze the corrective bandaging method over the short term and medium term. Conclusions. Corrective bandages showed high effectiveness, particularly in girls, and overall when started within the first month of life.