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My nephew was born with a clubfoot and is now being casted regularly. How do the doctors keep track of the foot? Surely they can't be doing x-rays all the time on babies.

Clubfoot is a deformity that is usually corrected with casting and bracing, although surgery may be needed to release the Achilles tendon. Usually, doctors assess how the foot is progressing by how it looks and how well the foot moves and the angles it can and cannot make.

Currently, there is a movement to use ultrasound to monitor the progress of clubfoot during treatment. This would allow doctors to see the bones and their progress, detecting any problems before they have gone on too long.

Reference: 

Sameer Desai, MS, DNB, MRCS (Ed), Alaric Aroojis, MS, DNB, DOrtho, and Rujuta Mehta, MS, DNB. Ultrasound Evaluation of Clubfoot Correction During Ponseti Treatment. In Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics. January/February 2008. Vol. 28. No. 1. Pp. 53-58.

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