Surgical prevention of hip luxation in cerebral palsied children.

Background. The purpose of this article is to present treatment outcomes for dysplastic hips in cerebral palsy, operated by tenotomy of the thigh adductor muscles and the greater iliopsoas muscle. Material and methods. 40 dysplastic hips in 20 severely tetraplegic cerebral palsied children were evaluated. The study group included children from 4 to 8 years. All patients were examined radiologically, with X-rays taken in anterio-posterior position and measurements were taken to record migration percentage according to Reimers. On that basic the hips were evaluated and the risk of possible paralytic hip luxation was predicted. In all the assessed patients prophylactic tenotomies of adductors and psoas muscles were made. The follow-up period was 1 year. Results. In 18 patients we observed better hip stability and decreased migration percentage in the evaluated hips. In two patients (four hips) we observed no changes of migration percentage. No deterioration of hip functions was observed in there joints.