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. 2020 May 15;2020(5):CD008602. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008602.pub4

Summary of findings 2. Treatment for resistant congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV; clubfoot).

Patient or population: participants with resistant CTEV
Settings: single centre
Intervention: various
Comparison: various
Outcomes Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI) Relative effect
(95% CI) No of Participants
(studies) Quality of the evidence
(GRADE) Comments
Assumed risk Corresponding risk
PMSTR Subtalar release
PMSTR PMSTR + talocalcaneal interosseus ligament lengthening
FHL & FDL lengthening Simple decompression surgery
CTEV surgery + CPM CTEV surgery + immobilisation
Function Not measured
Foot alignment 4 trials assessed foot alignment, but data were not suitable to re‐analyse. 3 compared surgical techniques; the 4th compared CPM with immobilisation in a case post‐surgery
Gait assessment Not measured
Health‐related quality of life Not measured
Adverse events 1 trial reported skin infections following: PMSTR (N = 4 feet, 8.5%) and complete circumferential subtalar release (N = 2 feet, 5.1%). The remaining trials did not report adverse events.
Relapses were documented in all trials but data were not available to analyse.
⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very lowa
*The basis for the assumed risk (e.g. the median control group risk across studies) is provided in footnotes. The corresponding risk (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI).
CI: confidence interval; CPM: continuous passive motion; PMSTR: posteromedial soft tissue release; RR: risk ratio
GRADE Working Group grades of evidence
High quality: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect.
Moderate quality: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate.
Low quality: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate.
Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate.

aWe downgraded the evidence twice: once for study limitations, and once for blinding of intervention provider (not possible); unclear about prior treatment. The risk of bias was unclear in several other domains, including allocation concealment.