Management of late onset perthes: evaluation of distraction by external fixator-5-year follow-up.
case_series · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 25580302.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1155/2014/135236 and PMC identifier 4279912.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Background. Hip distraction in Perthes' disease unloads the joint, which negates the harmful effect of the stresses on the articular surfaces, which may promote the sound healing of the area of necrosis. We have examined the effect of arthrodiastasis on the preservation of the femoral head in older children with Perthes' disease. Methods and Materials. Twelve children with age more than 8 years with Perthes' disease of less than one year were treated with hip distraction by a hinged monolateral external fixator. Observation and Results. Mean duration of distraction was 13.9 days. These children were evaluated by clinicoradiological parameters for a mean period of 32.4 months. There was a significant improvement in the range of movements and mean epiphyseal index, but the change in the percentage of uncovered head femur was insignificant. There was significant improvement in Harris Hip score. Conclusions. Hip distraction by hinged monolateral external fixator seems to be a valid treatment option in cases with Perthes' disease in the selected group of patients, where poor results are expected from conventional treatment.