Logo of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (Br)
Quick search:        
          Advanced Search
Guest Access | Sign In
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow My Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wilkinson, J.
Right arrow Articles by Carter, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Wilkinson, J.
Right arrow Articles by Carter, C.

CONGENITAL DISLOCATION OF THE HIP

The Results of Conservative Treatment

John Wilkinson 1; and Cedric Carter 1

1 Orthopaedic Department, the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, and the Medical Research Council's Clinical Genetics Research Unit

1. The histories of 149 patients, coming to the Hospital for Sick Children within the first three years of life with congenital dislocation of the hip (191 dislocated hips), and treated by conservative methods, have been reviewed.

2. The patients with unilateral dislocations (107) have been divided into three groups, according to the angle of slope of the opposite acetabulum. This angle was measured on the first radiograph and related to the mean value for age and sex.

3. The opposite hip was classed as "normal" if the acetabular angle was below or within one standard deviation above the mean for sex and age; as "moderately shallow" if it was between one and two standard deviations above the mean; and as "shallow" if it was over two standard deviations above the mean. This grouping was found to have a direct bearing on the results of conservative treatment in unilateral cases. a) Those with "normal" opposite acetabula—accounting for most of the unilateral cases—responded well. b) Those with "moderately shallow" opposite acetabula responded variably. c) The group with "shallow" opposite acetabula usually failed to respond.

4. Most bilateral dislocations behaved as unilateral dislocations with shallow opposite hips.

5. Additional factors influencing the response to conservative treatment—sex, age at first attendance, family history, fragmentation of the femoral epiphysis and eccentric reduction—are discussed.
(c) British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery All Rights Reserved
Registered charity no: 209299     Print ISSN: 0301-620X
Hip, Knee, Trauma, Upper limb, Foot & Ankle, Paediatrics, Oncology, Spine, Arthroplasty, General