Who, what.  Oh, sorry, you woke me up from enjoying the beautiful weather
right now.  Sun and temps somewhere in the upper 60's.

I don't know a lot about Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip, just enough to
be dangerous.  I'm working with one little girl with it who has an enlarged
acetabulum (the hip socket), her father had DDH but, it was because the
femoral head didn't fit into the acetabulum.  Abnormal muscle tone,
non-weight bearing,etc. can all cause it.  It's easy to know if something is
wrong with a simple test but, to confirm is more difficult as if you
remember babies don't have real bones, most of their skeleton is cartilage.
Cartilage doesn't show up much in X-rays.  The hip in general gets a lot of
wear and tear and even hip replacements only last for 10-15 years.  Young
adults with hip problems often get hip fusions.

The hip spica casts work to keep the legs abducted (in splits) but, then the
muscles around the hip joint atrophy.  right now, I don't think there are
any great answers, from the medical reading I've done on it.

Beth T. the OT


-----Original Message-----
From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Kat
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 12:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hip Dysplasia


You're right, 'what-if's' are a waste of time after so much time has passed.
Besides, spasticity may make CP's less desirable candidates for that kind of
surgery anyway.  Beth, do you have an opinion?

Kat

-------Original Message-------
From: - Joy - <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 02/11/03 11:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hip Dysplasia

>
> I wouldn't be too wistful about not doing that surgery, Kat... I had the
cast they were talking about when I was two.  One hip still slipped back
out
of the socket, and I still have arthritis in the joint.  It's great that
it
works for some people, though.

~Joy~
>