As you know, with clubfoot, the foot is turned under and towards the other foot. The medical terminology for this position is equinus and varus. Equinus means that the toes are pointed down and the ankle flexed forward (like the position of the foot when a ballet dancer is on her toes). Varus means tilted inward. The ankle is in a varus position when you try to put the soles of your feet together.

Imagine you are a teenage male athlete heavily involved in baseball. Now imagine how you would feel if severe, constant pain was keeping you out of the game. You have a condition called osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the elbow. For some unknown reason, the layer of joint cartilage just above the bone has separated and pulled away from the bone. No treatment has helped.

Children born with a foot deformity called clubfoot can be treated without surgery when they are just a few months old. In fact, success is much greater when treatment is applied before the child is three months old. The most successful nonoperative method of treatment has been the Ponseti Method. Now a new method called the French Functional (Physiotherapy) Method is available.

According to Dr. Lawson Copley, a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern (Dallas, Texas), serious bone and soft tissue infections in children are on the rise and have become more serious and more complex than ever before. In this article, Dr. Copley takes us down the path of evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of deep infections involving the musculoskeletal system in children.

The surgical treatment of large spinal (scoliosis) curves in children has evolved over the past four decades. In the 1960s, the Harrington rods were very popular. They were used to distract or separate the vertebral bodies, put them in good alignment, and hold them there while the child or teen grew. But a better way was found to correct the spinal curve in all three planes (3-D correction) and that was with segmental wires and hooks.

Scoliosis is a deformity in the spine that causes an abnormal C-shaped (one curve) or S-shaped curvature (two curves). The spine is not straight but curves to one or both sides. There are three types of scoliosis depending on when it develops. Infantile occurs from birth to three years of age. Juvenile scoliosis develops between four and nine years of age.

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) is a painful knee condition that affects teens and young adults who are usually still growing. That means the growth plates around the joints have not closed completely yet. Damage to the joint cartilage and first layer of bone (called subchondral bone) occurs causing knee pain with activity.

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) is a problem that affects the knee, mostly at the end of the big bone of the thigh (the femur). The problem occurs where the cartilage of the knee attaches to the bone underneath. The area of bone just under the cartilage surface is injured, leading to damage to the blood vessels of the bone. Without blood flow, the area of damaged bone actually dies. This area of dead bone can be seen on an X-ray and is sometimes referred to as the osteochondritis lesion.

The surgical treatment of large spinal (scoliosis) curves in children has evolved over the past four decades. In the 1960s, rods were used to distract or separate the vertebral bodies, put them in good alignment, and hold them there while the child or teen grew. But a better way was found to correct the spinal curve in all three planes (3-D correction) and that was with segmental wires and hooks.

Japanese researchers may have an answer to the problem of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). This painful knee condition affects teens and young adults who are usually still growing. That means the growth plates around the joints have not closed completely yet. Damage to the joint cartilage and first layer of bone (called subchondral bone) occurs causing knee pain with activity. Until now, it's been unclear just what happens to cause this condition.