Operation
In some cases, it may not be possible to reposition a hip joint luxation from the outside, making surgery necessary. Even if the children are already older and damage to the hip joint has developed, surgery is often unavoidable. The operation is performed under general anesthesia in an open surgical procedure.
The aim of the operation is to bring the femoral head into the correct position in the acetabulum. In order to achieve this goal, the surgeon will first open the surgical field through an incision. The incision is made in the groin area, so that the hip joint is shown.
After opening the joint capsule, the disturbing tissue is removed and any damaged structures and excess cartilage are removed and smoothed. The femoral head can then be easily reduced into the acetabulum. Finally, the joint capsule is sutured again and the skin wound is also closed with self-dissolving sutures. Following the operation, the hip joint must be immobilized for at least 4 weeks with a pelvic leg cast and then in a special splint so that the injury can heal properly.
Summary
Overall, physiotherapy in the case of a child’s hip dislocation is an essential component of both conservative therapy and post-operative treatment of a previous operation. The individual treatment plan varies from case to case and is always developed by physiotherapists and doctors. Especially with children, the parents are strongly involved in the therapy in order to perform exercises at home or to instruct the children and to pay attention to the correct execution of movements and protection. Due to the variety of therapeutic measures, physiotherapy offers a flexible treatment that can be adapted to the needs of the little patients.
