Hip dysplasia in the baby
Immediately after birth, the baby develops a gentle position. The affected leg or both legs show a clear abduction handicap. If only one leg is affected, it is usually moved less than the healthy leg and seems to be shorter.
Clearly visible is a different skin fold on the buttocks. Whether the child really feels pain is not clear, but should be examined immediately after birth if these signs are visible. An ultrasound examination can be made directly after birth, an X-ray only from the 3rd or 4th month of life.
If the hip dysplasia can be treated conservatively, the best remedy for a larger extent is the spreader pants. Here the hips are fixed in strong abduction and external rotation. If the hip dysplasia is not quite as severe, a similar effect as with the spreading trousers can be achieved by wider wrapping. The conservative therapy is quite lengthy, but generally has good chances of success. This article may also be of interest to you in this respect, as hip luxation may occur if hip dysplasia is not treated: Physiotherapy for a childhood hip luxation
Surgery for hip dysplasia
If the severity of hip dysplasia is high, surgery should be performed. There are various surgical techniques, which are selected depending on the surgeon and the position angle of the hip. In general, surgery should only be performed if conservative measures do not bring about an improvement, as every operation carries a risk.
Possibilities of the operation are a pelvic repositioning or a femoral repositioning (= thigh bone repositioning). In this case, the respective areas are repositioned bony, so that the statics can be improved. Another possibility is acetabular roof surgery, in which the acetabular roof is corrected so that the femoral head can be anchored in the acetabular roof. Surgery in the case of a child’s hip luxation This article may also be of interest to you in this regard, since hip luxation may occur if hip dysplasia is not treated: Surgery in case of a fetal hip dislocation
All articles in this series: