Early diagnosis and treatment of congenital dislocation of the hip

The long history of congenital dislocation of the hip is well known and needs no repetition. In the last half century the need for early diagnosis has been increasingly stressed. Putti in 1927 drew attention to the advantages of early treatment; he claimed perfect anatomical and functional results in 94 per cent of children whose treatment commenced before they were one year old. In 1948 at Malm#{246}in Sweden von Rosen and his colleagues began the routine examination of the hips of new-born children, using Ortolani’s test. In Malm#{246} nearly all babies are born in one obstetric department; this of course greatly facilitates their routine examination. By 1958 Andr#{233}nand von Rosen were able to claim that no case of established congenital dislocation of the hip had later been found in these children when their simple method of early treatment had been employed (see also this issue of the Journal, p. 284). OBJEcTS OF THE INVESTIGATION AND CLINICAL MATERIAL This investigation was commenced in 1957 at the suggestion of Mr W. Sayle-Creer. The objects were threefold: firstly, to determine the incidence of instability of the hip in the first week oflife; secondly, to find out whether dislocation occurs after birth, and if so at what age