Pirani Score

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Objective

The Pirani Score was developed by Shaque Pirani, a Canadian orthopaedic surgeon, who assisted in the development of clubfoot services in Uganda and Malawi. The Pirani Score is an easy to use tool developed to assess the severity of each of the individual components of clubfoot. It is used both as a means to assess the severity of the clubfoot at initial presentation and for ongoing monitoring of the patients’ progress. An increase in the Pirani Score between visits may be an indication that a relapse of deformity is occurring. 

Intended Population

The Pirani Score is intended for use as a means to assess the severity of the clubfoot at initial presentation and for ongoing monitoring of the patients’ progress.

Methods of Use

The Pirani Scoring System is based on 6 well-described clinical signs of contracture characterizing a severe clubfoot:

• If the sign is severely abnormal it scores 1
• If it is partially abnormal it scores 0.5
• If it is normal it scores 0.

Scoring the foot at each visit during treatment enables the health care worker treating the child to document how the foot is responding to manipulation and casting.

Many degrees of severity and rigidity of clubfoot are found at birth. Failures in treatment are related more often to faulty technique of manipulation and casting rather than severity of deformity.

References

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