Developmental dysplasia of the hip. A population-based comparison of ultrasound and clinical findings.

Clinical and ultrasound findings were compared in 3613 newborns examined for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) within 48 hours of delivery. Clinical and sonographic hip stability was described as stable, borderline unstable, dislocatable or dislocated, and the morphology on ultrasound as normal, immature or dysplastic. Persistent clinical or sonographic dislocatability or dislocation, major dysplasia or minor dysplasia combined with an unstable femoral head were indications for early treatment. A total of 123 (3.4%) infants were subjected to early treatment, of which 55 (45%) fulfilled the criteria for treatment on both clinical and ultrasound examinations, 52 (42%) were treated on the basis of ultrasound findings alone, and 16 (13%) on the basis of clinical findings alone. Thirty per cent of the infants with clinically dislocated or dislocatable hips were judged to have stable or just borderline unstable hips on the first clinical examination. Of 486 (13.5%) infants with sonographically immature or minor dysplastic but stable hips, 472 (97%) normalized spontaneously, while treatment was initiated in 14 (3%) of them at 1-3 months of age because of lack of sonographic improvement. Only one infant presented with late DDH during an observation period of 3 years. Accepting sonographic dysplasia as a criterion for early splinting may result in a treatment rate which is almost twice the rate based on clinical criteria, but late dislocation may be virtually eliminated.