[Initial experience with the Steel triple osteotomy in the treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint as a result of congenital hip dysplasia].

The age of the patients was 18 to 40 years (mean age 32 years), the interval after operation was 5 months to 3 years (mean 17 months). In all 8 patients proper covering of the head was achieved, CE angle 25-45 degrees, mean gain of CE angle 35 degrees. The X-ray picture revealed widening of the articular space and reabsorption of arthritic pseudocysts. As regards the clinical picture, marked regression of complaints was recorded. Osteotomy of the pelvis according to Steele prolongs the vitality of the hip joint: a) by increasing the contact surface in the hip joint, b) by shifting the till then minimally burdened and thus minimally usurated cartilage into the zone of the main burdening, c) the usurated cartilage, on the other hand, is shifted beyond this zone. Moreover, osteotomy of the pelvis prepares a bed for anchoring of the cup of a possible future prosthesis. The above facts are advantages, as compared with different types of osteotomies of the femur, which moreover may in future cause further complications of the implantation of the femoral component of the artificial joint.