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From: Paul
Date: 20 Apr 2001
Time: 22:38:05
Remote Name: 24.112.32.13
We had a similar experience, although diffent...our daughter was put into a Pavlic Harness at 3 months of age for a subluxed hip(not total dislocation) for a period of 6 weeks. When the harness was removed we were told that the hip had normalized based on an ultrasound. Ultrasounds are not reliable!!! At the checkup 3 months later (now about 8months old) the re-examination ultrasound and xray were inconclusive and we were told to wait for another check at 12 months of age. At this point we were told that the closed reduction (4 months in a spica cast) was not as statistically successful as it would have been at 8-10 months and that an open reduction (surgery) was held a much greater chance of success, it was also now summer we decided to a wait until 18months when we were told a final determination would be made. Well Gabriella is 23 months old now and 8 weeks post-op, the cast has been off for 3 days and she is happy, although a bit stiff. She is not walking yet however she crawls well and puts some weight on the leg.. It remains to be seen if we have made the correct choice. But we were reassured by the fact that the doctor found a femoral antiversion (twisted femur) intra-operatively that did not show on the xray. Due to this he set the cast with the leg turned inwards and he feels there is a decent chance it will normalize sufficiently over time to avoid a further surgery at 3-4 years of age to correct the anomaly.
Good Luck to you,
if you are any where near the Canadian border, we have been recieving excellent care at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Our surgeon is Dr. Wedge.