The hip in children with cerebral palsy. Predicting the outcome of soft tissue surgery.

This study reviewed 56 hips in 37 children with cerebral palsy who had undergone an adductor tenotomy alone or in combination with an anterior obturator neurectomy. The mean review period was 5.3 years. At latest review, 25 of 30 (83%) hips with a preoperative migration percentage of less than 40% were reduced, but 20 of 26 (77%) hips with a preoperative migration percentage of 40% or more were subluxated or dislocated. Surgery was unsuccessful for 13 of 15 hips with an acetabular index of more than 27 degrees. Percutaneous adductor tenotomy alone was as effective as the combination of an open procedure with an anterior obturator neurectomy. The age at the time of surgery did not have a significant effect on the outcome. The preoperative migration percentage was the only significant predictor of outcome in this group of children.