Dega versus Salter osteotomy for the treatment of developmental dysplasia of the hip.

A total of 93 children (99 hips) with developmental dysplasia of the hip were analyzed in a retrospective cohort study carried out during 2000-2004. The age of the patients at the time of surgery ranged from 13 months to 13 years old with an average age of 3.7 years. Dega's osteotomy was performed on 43 hips (40 patients), whereas Salter's osteotomy was done on 56 hips (53 patients). The correlation between the final results in both groups of patients and the main variables were evaluated with regard to the statistical significance with the use of Mantel and Haenszel, Yates corrected odds ratios. The joint mobility and gait were favorable in the group with the Dega's osteotomy (P<0.05). We saw a statistically significant difference in favor of the Dega's osteotomy with regard to the decrease of the acetabular index (P<0.05), the same applied for Wiberg's angle and Fernandez's concentric centering. Severin's classification was used, which could not evidence a statistical significance between both the techniques. We point out the advantages and disadvantages of the Dega versus Salter osteotomies and on the basis of our experience we recommend Dega's osteotomy as one of the first treatment options to be considered in patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip.