NEWS > Dr Ignacio Ponseti dies
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Dr Ignacio Ponseti, pioneer of club foot treatment, dies at 95Dr Ignacio Ponseti, whose pioneering, non-surgical, low-cost club foot treatment benefited hundreds of thousands of children worldwide, has died. He was 95.
Dr Ponseti was the first to propose a method of correcting clubfoot, the most common congenital physical disability worldwide, without the need for surgery. Clubfoot comprises approximately 25 per cent of all CBMI’s physical disability work; the Ponseti method, which involves a weekly programme of gentle manipulation and plaster casting, has enabled the cost-effective treatment of thousands of children with club foot through early intervention. It also enabled the training of many hundreds of non-surgical staff.
Dr Ponseti developed his method in the mid-1940s in response to the limitations of surgical treatments practised at the time; the method was controversial because it challenged surgery as the only means to correct club foot, and did not win general acceptance until years later, when studies and later the internet helped to raise awareness of its effectiveness. Dr Ponseti himself continued to work for many years afterwards in academic medicine.
The Ponseti method involves manipulation of muscles, joints and ligaments in casts and braces to reposition the foot of a child with physical disability due to club foot. This simple treatment, used widely by CBM co-workers today, is particularly effective in children under two years of age. The great advantage of the Ponseti method is that it is an early intervention without surgery, and therefore very resource-effective. It has also helped to support an integrated approach to the care of physical disability.
Dr Steve Mannion, Orthopaedic Advisor to CBM, said: “CBM leads the world in treating club foot disability. Based on our success in applying the Ponseti method in Malawi, we are introducing it into other developing countries. It has become the gold standard of treatment in Africa. It is more effective than treating club foot with surgery. It does not need to be done by doctors - it can be applied by health workers, but they need to be supported as they go through a learning curve.”
Dr. Norgrove Penny, paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and senior adviser for physical disability for CBM, said: “We have lost the "father" of clubfoot, Dr. Ponseti. Dr. Ponseti took a great interest in the clubfoot work being done in Africa. The Uganda clubfoot project, part of a CBM project in Uganda, was a great inspiration to him. We at CBM have been fully supportive of the Ponseti technique and implementing it in our projects around the world to great success. His technique of treating babies with clubfoot without surgery was revolutionary and applicable to the developing world; his legacy will be seen as one of the great turning points in treating babies with physical impairments worldwide.”
Dr Ponseti died on October 18 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics following a sudden illness. The Ponseti method has enabled CBM surgeons to transform the lives of children with disabilities: Tens of thousands in the world today owe their mobility to Dr Ponseti. CBM reaches more than 16 million people with disabilities each year. A $60 NZD donation to CBM can give a child with an early case of clubfoot corrective treatment using the Ponseti Method. For more information on club foot, see the Resources section of our website. |
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