Club foot is listed as a possible postural deviation/contracture for which spinal levels?

• A. Thoracic level and High Lumbar L1-L2
• B. Thoracic level only
• C. High Lumbar L1-L2 only
• D. Neither level

Answer: (A)

Club foot results from an imbalance of muscles around the ankle and foot due to loss of neural input from the spinal cord. When the lesion is high in the spine—either in the thoracic region or at the upper lumbar level (L1-L2)—the motor control to many leg muscles is disrupted, leading to unopposed actions that pull the foot into plantarflexion and inversion. This neuromuscular imbalance can produce a club foot pattern, so this deformity is listed for both thoracic and high lumbar levels. The other options restrict the level to just one region or to neither, which doesn’t fit the way these lesions can create the foot-posture deformity.