Unsatisfactory results of early treatment of infants with unstable hips at birth.

Among 19,864 infants born in Trondheim between 1 May 1969 and 31 December 1974 instability of the hip joint was diagnosed in 378 (19.03 per thousand live-born). All infants were treated with Frejka cushion splint, usually for 3 months. In spite of this early treatment, 31 infants (8.2 per cent) developed subsequent signs of CDH. In 20 children the diagnosis of CDH was based solely on radiological criteria, while 11 children also displayed clinical abnormalities, most often restricted abduction of the hip joint. The prenatal and perinatal condition of the 31 children, with persistent signs of CDH in spite of early treatment, was compared with that of the 347 children who showed no obvious signs of CDH. The former group of patients had a relatively high frequency of hip abnormalities in their families, and an increased frequency of breech presentation at birth, concomitant foot deformities and instability of the hip joint also on the eight day after birth. It is suggested that infants with unsatisfactory results from the early treatment of unstable hips constitute a separate clinical entity and an especially severe form of CDH.