Specialist’s leave raises uncertainty over Iceland’s clubfoot care

Uncertainty surrounds treatment for children born with clubfoot in Iceland as the only orthopaedic surgeon who has cared for them prepares to take leave, mbl.is reports. Parents say the situation is unsatisfactory and are reviving the Fima fætur support group to share information and help families.

Police officer Guðmundur Fylkisson was born with clubfoot in his left foot. He received plaster casts to correct it and later had surgery to lengthen his Achilles tendon. His treatment involved repeated periods in casts during his first year.

Guðmundur says follow-up care could have been better, possibly because his family lived in Ísafjörður and had to travel to Reykjavík for treatment. He was born in September and was put in a cast three weeks later. He still has two of his casts; he kicked one off, while another had to be cut off.

As a child, he played football, ran, and went skiing and cross-country skiing without difficulty. But at around 15, he suddenly lost strength in his left foot. A doctor found that he had never put his heel down and had always walked on the ball of his foot, which he says helps explain why he repeatedly injured it.

At nearly 19, Guðmundur underwent another operation to lengthen the tendon. The wound took several months to heal, leaving him unable to work while dressings were changed and staff tried to get it to close. He said the area had poor blood supply.

Clubfoot is a birth defect that can often be detected before birth. Around one in every 1,000 children is born with it; in Iceland, that amounts to four or five children a year. Without timely treatment, it can lead to reduced mobility and permanent disability.