Introduction: The foot and ankle are complex, dynamic organs that develop during childhood and play an important role in supporting the body. Foot problems are treated conservatively or surgically, depending on the deformity. One of the conservative treatments are orthopaedic insoles. Purpose: The aim of the thesis was to review the literature on the use of orthotic insoles in children with foot deformities to determine the effectiveness and impact on the foot. Methods: In this thesis we used a systematic review of professional and scientific literature, which we searched in English and Slovene, published between 2011 and 2021. We used the search string child AND foot AND insole and in Slovene otrok IN stopalo IN ortopedski vložek. Results: Eight articles were included. The studies describe different foot deformities and the orthopedic insoles used for treatment. The subjects were children of different ages and with different deformities. Two studies involved children without deformities. One study used orthopedic insoles with a medial wedge, to improve the condition of children with inward-turning feet. In the other studies, all subjects had flat feet they all used orthopedic insoles with support for the medial arch of the foot. Discussion and conclusion: The use of orthopedic insoles in children with deformities is very common, usually in combination with appropriate footwear and physiotherapy. Using orthopaedic insoles improve pain, gait and balance problems and corrects deformities. Most children with flexible flat feet who do not have developmental problems develop plantar arches during childhood. The correction of the deformity is positively influenced by the hardness of the material and the amount of support to the arch of the foot, but this can cause unexplained tensions in the joints and ligaments of the foot. Important factors are the different materials and their hardness, the shape of the insole, the amount of support to the arches of the foot, the total-contact. The orthotist and prosthetist also plays an important role in the individual design of orthotic insoles. There is lack of research in this field, and further research would be needed to better understand the impact of orthotic insoles on various foot deformities in childhood.
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