Pedorthic Association of Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines

In 2010 the Pedorthic Association of Canada (PAC) for the first time expressed its desire to draw up practical clinical guidelines. They were supposed to assist the members in the treatment of their patients and to standardize the treatment process, but they were also supposed to enable a dialogue with the public, other health professions and political decision makers on pedorthic foot care.

As early as in 2012 the first edition of the Clinical Practice Guidelines could be presented containing all important diseases that pedorthists deal with in their daily practice.
In 2017 the board of management of the PAC concluded that it was about time to review the Guidelines, since there had been enough new developments in this specialized area to justify a revision of the Guidelines. Before the revision the members were asked to supply their feedback on the first edition and to make proposals for the second edition. Authors of the first edition were asked to update their articles.

Seven new chapters were added for the second edition. A whole team of reviewers made sure that all articles included state-of-the-art knowledge. It was a common project where more than 100 participants including authors, reviewers, people from the project team of the association and the production team cooperated. The effort was well worth it. Now more than 65 diseases are described in individual chapters – from the little toes up to the hip. The proven design of the first edition was maintained. Each chapter begins with a summary of the essential messages.

Then the disease is introduced, a description of the pathology, explanations about the differential diagnosis and the suitable test procedures as well as the contra-indications follow. After the evaluation of the diagnosis you would expect that the authors directly proceed to the therapy process and to the pedorthic treatment. But in between there is a crucial subchapter inserted: The patient’s perspective. Here important hints are given how the patients themselves experience the disease, what symptoms they suffer from and what effect  the various measures have from their point of view.

After a detailed description of possible therapy options, the important issues that should be taken into considerations during therapy are summarized as a conclusion under the headline “Key Considerations”. An extensive list of literature at the end of each chapter shows that the authors did not only write the articles based on their own practical experience, but also on the basis of the state-of-the-art knowledge.

For those who are still learning, the Clinical Practice Guidelines provide a comprehensive overview of the professional discipline pedorthics. And those who are already experienced in the profession will be happy to be able to consult the book in cases of doubt, in order to assure themselves or to get advice on how to find the best solution for the patient. The consistent construction of the chapters makes it easy for the reader to find the necessary information on a disease, either medical background
information or practical tips for the treatment.