The treatment of subluxation of the hip in children over the age of four years

• Published in: Journal of bone and joint surgery. British volume Vol. 80; no. 5; pp. 757 - 761
• Main Authors: FIXSEN, J. A, LI, P. L. S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery 01-09-1998; British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery
• Edition: British volume
• Subjects: Age Factors; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hip Dislocation, Congenital - diagnostic imaging; Hip Dislocation, Congenital - surgery; Hip Joint - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Orthopedic surgery; Postoperative Complications; Radiography; Recurrence; Reoperation; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Human; Dysplasia; Luxation; Prognosis; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Hip; Orthopedic surgery; Treatment; Age of onset; Malformation; Arthropathy; Technique; Child
• ISSN: 0301-620X; 2049-4394; 2044-5377; 2049-4408
• DOI: 10.1302/0301-620X.80B5.0800757

Subluxation of the hip presenting for the first time in a child over the age of four years is rare. We report ten cases treated over nearly 11 years by the senior author (JAF). We describe the surgical procedures and the results, at maturity, of nine of the ten patients. At a mean follow-up of nearly nine years, the clinical outcome was good in all ten children by the criteria of Ponseti. Radiological assessment showed that three hips remained subluxed, and that four had avascular necrosis of the physis. We advise a one-stage procedure, correcting both the femur and acetabulum.