[Simultaneous Bilateral Femoral Osteotomies in Neurogenic Hip Instability: a Feasibility Study]

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The study aimed to evaluate the intraoperative and early postoperative response to simultaneous bilateral femoral osteotomy usually accompanied by soft tissue release of hip joints, or open reduction, capsuloplasty, pelvic osteotomy or extraarticular shelf procedure. MATERIAL AND METHODS A bilateral surgery was performed in 16 children. Twelve children suffered from (spastic) cerebral palsy and there was one case of paralytic dislocation in a patient with myelomeningocele, while the remaining patients suffered from chromosome I aberrations, Dandy-Walker syndrome and merosin-deficient muscular dystrophy. GMFCS Level IV and V prevailed. The patients with femoral head deformity or severe adduction contracture were removed from the study group. In all cases the LCP Pediatric Hip Plate 3.5 or 5.0 (Synthes) was used for osteosynthesis. The postoperative fixation by a hip spica cast was applied for 6 weeks, after which in most cases SWASH orthosis was used at night. The age of the patient, the hip joint finding, the GMFCS level and the type of procedure were recorded. RESULTS The evaluation took into account the use of general anaesthesia only or a combination of general and epidural anaesthesia, most often through caudal block, duration of surgery, time when blood transfusion was necessary and the volumes of blood needed, duration of stay in the Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation Unit, or Intensive Care Unit. As a response to surgery, the changes in haemoglobin levels in g/l and VAS pain score were studied. In four patients only the operative time exceeded 3 hours. Blood transfusion was necessary in 13 patients, with one blood unit being always sufficient. Two patients were admitted to the Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation Unit, the remaining patients spent 1-3 days after surgery in the ICU. The average length of hospital stay did not exceed a week. The postoperative decrease in haemoglobin levels quickly improved. The pain intensity was regularly recorded postoperatively and on day 3-4 it was evaluated as moderate, with patients responding well to common analgesics (VAS 4-7). DISCUSSION The evaluation of duration of simultaneous bilateral procedure, postoperative recovery based on the need for blood transfusion, changes in blood count and VAS scores indicated that the procedure performed on both hip joints simultaneously does not significantly exceed the reasonable limits in terms of the patient s burden. In literature, we found only a single article on a topic of this sort, the conclusions of which are very similar. CONCLUSIONS The simultaneous bilateral femoral osteotomy can be considered a fairly safe procedure. Key words: hip joint instability, simultaneous femoral osteotomy, cerebral palsy.