Ignacio Ponseti

Ignacio Ponseti’s work on congenital clubfoot will be remembered as one of the key contributions to paediatric orthopaedics and childhood deformity. He devised a carefully constructed sequence of plaster casts and braces for children with clubfoot, based on his anatomic and embryological studies of the condition. The World Health Organization estimates that 100 000 children are born with congenital clubfoot every year, with 80% occurring in the developing world. Ponseti’s ingenious and inexpensive technique has spread to the furthest reaches of the developing world, enabling medical technicians to transform the lives of millions of children destined to severe deformity and suffering. It is also the treatment of choice in the developed world, with long term follow-up studies showing superior results to operative techniques.