25 Aug Been told that your newborn baby’s hips have “mild laxity” and so baby needs 6 weekly hip ultrasound scans to monitor their hip joints?
Developmental Dysplasia of the Hips (DDH) occurs in 1 in 100 births and when babies are screened with ultrasound scans at 6 weeks old, the incidence of DDH increases to 8 in 100 babies. DDH refers to the abnormal formation of the hip joints that occur during baby’s development during the pregnancy.
There are 3 types of DDH,
1.The hip joint is completely dislocated,
2. The hip joints is dislocatable, or
3. The hip joints is subluxable
Hip ultrasound scans are carried out on babies who are less than 6 months old, because their bones are not yet ossified and will not show up in X-rays. Ultrasound scans should report on the angles of the pelvic joint, the coverage percentage of the thigh bone inside the pelvic joint at resting position and at stress position.
The common problems our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists find with hip ultrasound scans are that scans are not done correctly, reports of the scan results are vague and do not help parents or Paediatricians understand the true state of baby’s hips. Statements of mild laxity in the hips can mean the hip joints are not viable and baby will not be able to walk, to hip joints being shallow and baby can walk but will have hip pain and problems in their teenage years onwards.
Paediatricians often would then hesitate to recommend proactive treatment using a Pavlik harness, instead they recommend ongoing 6 weekly ultrasound scans in hope that baby’s hips will improve over time by itself. Unfortunately, baby’s hips often don’t improve and months later as baby grows, they become too big for Pavlik harnesses to fit. Some children end up needing surgery at 2 years old to correct their hip joints while others end up being able to walk but experience hip pain in their teenage years.
If you are concerned about your baby’s hips, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today!
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