Radiological evaluation of surgical treatment in Perthes' disease

We compared the late radiographic results of femoral head coverage in two unselected groups of patients with Perthes' disease, one treated conservatively and one with surgical containment. Forty-eight hips were treated surgically and 28 hips were managed conservatively. The preoperative radiographs were classified using both the Salter and Herring classifications. We found no significant difference in femoral head coverage between the groups. However, there was a trend towards a better femoral head coverage following surgical containment of Salter type B and Herring type II and III hips. The authors conclude that surgical containment may offer a better prognosis for patients with the more severely affected hips.