The value of ultrasonography (US) was assessed for studying the position of the navicular and the cuboid in children with clubfeet (CF). In most studies on the management of CF, more than 50% of the patients have required surgical treatment for correcting foot deformities. In addition, repeat surgery is commonly needed for correction of residual foot deformities, especially persistent forefoot adduction usually due to medial displacement of the navicular and sometimes also the cuboid. These conditions have often been overlooked at the initial surgery.

The authors examined 50 CF and 100 normal feet by US in children during the first year of life. With the transducer, the position of the navicular was studied along the medial border of the foot, and the position of the cuboid along the lateral border of the foot.

The results indicated that 1) Severe medial displacement of the navicular towards the medial malleolus, which might not be possible to reveal by clinical examination, was commonly seen in children with CF and 2) severe medial displacement of the cuboid was seen considerably less frequently.

Ultrasonography, using the most recent type of equipment, is a helpful tool when deciding if the navicular and the cuboid need to be re-aligned by open reduction in children with CF during the first year of life.