Idiopathic hypertonicity as a cause of stiffness after surgery for developmental dysplasia of the hip

AbstractINTRODUCTIONThere are various complications reported with surgical treatment of DDH. Most studied complication is avascular necrosis of the femoral head and hip stiffness. The purpose of this report was to describe a case with severe stiffness of the hip due to hypertonicity in periarticular muscles after it was treated for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH).PRESENTATION OF CASEThree-year-old patient referred to our institution with bilateral DDH. Two hips were operated separately in one year with anterior open reduction, femoral shortening osteotomy. Third month after last surgery, limited right hip range of motion and limb length discrepency identified. Clinical examination revealed that patient had limited range of motion (ROM) in the right hip and compensated this with pelvis obliquity. Gluteus medius, sartorius and iliofemoral band release performed after examination under general anesthesia. Symptoms were persisted at 3rd week control and examination of the patient in general anesthesia revealed full ROM without increased tension. For the identified hypertonicity, ultrasound guided 100IU botulinum toxin A injection performed to abductor group and iliopsoas muscles. Fifth month later, no flexor or abductor tension observed, and there was no pelvic obliquity.DISCUSSIONStiffness as a complication is rare and is usually resolved without treatment or simple physical therapy. Usually it is related with immobilization or surgery associated joint contracture, and spontaneous recovery reported. Presented case is diagnosed as hip stiffness due to underlying local hypertonicity. That is resolved with anesthesia and it was treated after using botulinum toxin A injection.CONCLUSIONHypertonicity with hip stiffness after surgical treatment of DDH differ from spontaneous recovering hip range of motion limitation and treatment can only be achieved by reduction of the muscle hypertonicity by neuromuscular junction blockage

Treatment of Graf Type IIa Hip Dysplasia: A Cut-off Value for Decision Making

Background: The rate of spontaneous normalization in type IIa hips is reported to be high, whereas dysplsia persists or worsens in 5%-10% of cases. Aims: To evaluate the natural course of type IIa hips using Graf’s own perspective of physiological immaturity and maturational deficit. Study Design: A single center, retrospective cohort study. Methods: This was an institutional review board-approved retrospective review of all patients diagnosed with type IIa hip dysplasia at a single institution from 2012 to 2014. All patients included in the study had hip ultrasonography at about 6 weeks and 3 months of age. To assess reliability in α and β angles, ultrasonography measurements were carried out on the same image individually by all observers. The α and β angles were used as the main outcome measurements to evaluate hip maturation at the last follow-up. A receiver operating characteristics curve was drawn at the 3 month ultrasonography to evaluate the cut-off values for α and β angles for persistent dysplasia. Results: Sixty-four patients and 88 affected hips (63% unilateral and 37% bilateral) were included. The mean age at diagnosis was 6.4±2.7 weeks. Fifty-four hips were type IIa(+) (physiologically immature) and 34 hips were type IIa(-) (maturational deficit) at the initial ultrasonography evaluation. Improvement to type I was seen in 52 type IIa(+) and 17 type IIa(-) hips. Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that patients do well if the α angle was >55° (area under the curve: 0.86; p<0.001 for the left hip and area under the curve: 0.72; p=0.008 for the right hip). Conclusion: The cut-off α angle value of 55° on initial ultrasonography should be considered to prevent future dysplasia. An α angle <55° on the initial ultrasonography was an independent predictor of worsening sonographic findings