Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jul;48(7):1793-1797.
doi: 10.1007/s00264-024-06169-6. Epub 2024 Apr 11.

Routine ultrasound screening for hip dysplasia in children with clubfoot is not supported

Dell McLaughlin  1 , Sara De Salvo  2 , Kathryn Brewerton  2 , Caitlyn Hui  3   4 , Maryse Bouchard  5   6
Affiliations

Routine ultrasound screening for hip dysplasia in children with clubfoot is not supported

Dell McLaughlin et al. Int Orthop. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the existence of guidelines for screening for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), there remains controversy regarding the need for routine ultrasound screening for DDH in patients with clubfoot due to an unclear correlation between the two conditions. The purpose of this study is to determine whether ultrasound screening for DDH in this population improved the diagnostic accuracy of DDH over standard assessment for patient risk factors and physical exam.

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional review of infants diagnosed with idiopathic clubfoot who underwent hip ultrasounds to assess for DDH as identified by keyword search in an institutional radiological database at a tertiary care paediatric hospital. Patient demographics, risk factors for DDH, physical exam findings, and ultrasound results were recorded.

Results: Of the 120 patients who met the inclusion criteria between 2003 and 2018, 8 had hip dysplasia confirmed on ultrasound (6.7%). All these patients either had known risk factors for hip dysplasia or had an abnormal physical exam finding suggestive of hip instability or dislocation as performed by an orthopaedic surgeon on their initial consultation.

Conclusion: A detailed history to determine risk factors and a thorough physical exam are adequate to determine the need for hip ultrasound in infants with idiopathic clubfoot. Routine ultrasound screening of all patients with clubfoot is likely unnecessary and may pose a significant burden on the health care system.

Keywords: Clubfoot; Developmental hip dysplasia; Neonate; Risk factors; Ultrasound.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Barlow TG (1963) Early diagnosis and treatment of congenital dislocation of the hip. Proc R Soc Med 56(9):804–806 - PubMed - PMC
    1. von ROSEN (1962) Diagnosis and treatment of congenital dislocation of the hip joint in the new-born. J Bone Joint Surge British volume 44-B:284–291. https://doi.org/10.1302/0301-620X.44B2.284
    1. Yang S, Zusman N, Lieberman E, Goldstein RY (2019) Developmental dysplasia of the hip. Pediatrics 143(1):e20181147. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-1147 - DOI - PubMed
    1. De Hundt M, Vlemmix F, Bais JMJ et al (2012) Risk factors for developmental dysplasia of the hip: a meta-analysis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 165(1):8–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2012.06.030 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mahan ST, Katz JN, Kim YJ (2009) To screen or not to screen? A decision analysis of the utility of screening for developmental dysplasia of the hip. J Bone Joint Surg-American 91(7):1705–1719. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.H.00122 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources