Ponsetti Workshop (2018)

Trinidad and Tobago

Letter from the co-ordinator:

Inaugural Ponseti Clubfoot Workshop

Princess Elizabeth Centre, Port of Spain, Trinidad

April 19th – 21st, 2018

The Ponseti International Association in collaboration with The Caribbean Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons recently hosted the first ever clubfoot treatment workshop in the Caribbean. The Princess Elizabeth Centre, host location for the workshop, was first opened in 1953 to treat numerous cases of then existent poliomyelitis. The facility has since morphed into a treatment centre for physically challenged children and those with paediatric orthopaedic conditions. The centre also has a school for the children, some of whom live on the premises.

Dr. Camille Quan Soon, who attended a more extended version of this workshop in Iowa City, Iowa in 2014, organised the workshop. Ponseti International is headquartered in Iowa City from where its treatment arm extends to over one hundred (100) countries worldwide. The Chief Executive Officer of Ponseti International is Dr. Jose Morcuende, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and the current pioneer in the Ponseti method for clubfoot treatment around the world. All lectures and practical sessions for the three (3) day workshop were conducted by Dr. Morcuende.

For this inaugural workshop, participants were invited from Trinidad and Tobago and other islands around the region. These participants included:

K.K. Singh, Antigua
Basil Thorpe, Barbados
Andre Yusuff, Barbados
Charlene Chin See, Jamaica
Shomari Prince, Jamaica
Charles Woods, St. Vincent
Israel Dowlat, Trinidad
Rahul Manerikar, Trinidad

Opening remarks on day one were delivered by Dr. Quan Soon who incidentally is the first and currently only female orthopaedic surgeon in Trinidad and Tobago. Dr Quan Soon touched on her experiences in Iowa and the importance of the formal introduction of the Ponseti method in the Caribbean. Her address was followed by Dr. David Toby, the chief surgeon at the Princess Elizabeth Centre and the mentor for many of the practising and aspiring surgeons in the country. Dr. Toby is well known in the medical community having spent over forty (40) years as a consulting surgeon at the Port of Spain General Hospital. Dr. Toby emphasised the need for more workshops of this type, and spoke briefly on the work done at the Centre and the children that they treat. Messages of thanks were also delivered by the Centre’s Board members Dr. Calvin Inalsingh and Prof. Clement Imbert. These were all followed by a short address from the Honorable Minister of Health, Mr. Terrence Deyalsingh. The minister reiterated the government’s support for the Centre and welcomed the foreign participants to Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr Morcuende opened his lectures by giving a historical perspective and scientific basis of the Ponseti method. He was fortunate to have worked alongside Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, the inventor of the method. Over the three (3) day period, Dr. Morcuende’s talks included but were not limited to the following:

Manipulation and casting
Tenotomy
Bracing
Complex clubfeet
Relapses

On the final day of the workshop, there was a clinic session with some selected patients, followed by the demonstration of cast application on 2 babies with club feet. Dr. Morcuende and the participants were also treated to some local hospitality with a “Down de Islands lime” hosted by Dr. Toby.

Both Dr. Quan Soon and Dr. Toby stressed that the workshop would not have been a success without the tireless efforts of the staff at the Centre. These included the Physiotherapist Mrs. Angela Murphy, Nurse Mrs. Jannette Graham, Matron Mrs. Geeta Pollard, Occupational Therapist Mrs. Christine Tanker and the Chief Executive Officer Mrs. Jan Surjusingh.

The general consensus from all involved was that the workshop be repeated, and the next one is planned for early in 2020.

Steven Joseph

Project Consultant