A combination pelvic osteotomy for acetabular dysplasia in children

Several surgical procedures have been devised to increase acetabular coverage of the femoral head in children with dysplasia of the hip. In this report we describe an acetabuloplasty that combines the key aspects of the Pemberton and Salter osteotomies. It has been used at the Los Angeles Unit of the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children since the late 1960's. To assess the results of this combination procedure, fifty hips in forty-four children were evaluated at an average of six years postoperatively. The average age at operation was 7.3 years, and 62 per cent of the patients had had prior surgery. Clinically, thirty-two hips in which there had been no or slight symptoms preoperatively remained unchanged, twelve that had had preoperative limitations improved, and six showed some deterioration in terms of slight loss of motion, mild pain, and a limp. Roentgenographically, acetabular dysplasia (as measured by the acetabular index and by the center-edge angle of Wiberg) improved in more than 90 per cent of the hips. The roentgenographic results were comparable with those obtained by innominate or pericapsular osteotomy. The combination osteotomy has the advantages of both the Pemberton procedure and the Salter operation and proved to be an excellent surgical procedure for older children whose acetabular development did not progress as well as was expected.