Traumatic dislocation of the hip in children

Thirty-three children with traumatic dislocation of the hip who had been treated at the Hospital for Sick Children between 1960 and 1977 were reviewed. The amount of trauma causing dislocation of the hip in younger children was less than that for older children. The most frequent complication was soft-tissue interposition which usually required a posterior arthrotomy to clear the interposed tissue. Less frequent complications included avascular necrosis, redislocation of the hip and an irreducible hip. Nineteen children were reviewed with an average follow-up time of 10 years. Clinical examination indicated that 84 per cent of these hips were normal but the radiographs showed that 47 per cent of the dislocated hips had a coxa magna of two millimetres or more. There was no correlation between the development of coxa magna and the clinical result.