Corrective shoes and inserts as treatment for flexible flatfoot in infants and children

We performed a prospective study to determine whether flexible flatfoot in children can be influenced by treatment. One hundred and twenty-nine children who had been referred by pediatricians, and for whom the radiographic findings met the criteria for flatfoot, were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Group I, controls; Group II, treatment with corrective orthopaedic shoes; Group III, treatment with a Helfet heel-cup; or Group IV, treatment with a custom-molded plastic insert. All of the patients in Groups II, III, and IV had a minimum of three years of treatment, and ninety-eight patients whose com-pliance with the protocol was documented completed the study. Analysis of radiographs before treatment and at the most recent follow-up demonstrated a significant improvement in all groups (p < 0.01), including the controls, and no significant difference between the controls and the treated patients (p > 0.4). We concluded that wearing corrective shoes or inserts for three years does not influence the course of flexible flatfoot in children.