A Clinical Evaluation of Flatfoot

Chung, Moon Sang; Han, Moon Sik; Chung, Jong Koo

Abstract

258 feet of patients with flatfoot were evaluated in this paper. The incidence of flatfoot is about 0.6% of the general population. The longitudinal arch was depressed in all of our cases of flatfoot, and there have been many patients suffering from pain after some kinds of heavy work. But there were no definite correlations found between the depression of the longitudinal arch and clinical symptom. The sag in the naviculo cuneiform joint is the most common X-ray finding in this series (93%), followed by the talo-navicular sagging (27%), Degenerative arthritis of the inter-tarsal joints was frequently found after the adolescent period. The talo-navicular joint was involved in arthritic changes in 60% of the cases, the subtalar joint 46% and the naviculo-cuneiform joint 42%. The prevalence of these changes was not increasing with the increasing age, so it is poatulated that the degenerative changes begin early in adolescent period. Accessory tarsal bones were more frequently seen in patients with flatfoot than in normal population. and the neck of the talus was usually deviated inferomedially. Now that the arthriric changes are very prevalent in the triple joints, there are many cases of flatfoot that should undergo the triple arth odesis inevitably if his conservative treatment was failed.