[Neonatal diagnosis of hip luxation].

Abstract

Examination of the hips had been performed in an algerian maternity ward on nearly 15,000 neonates. The results show an important number of babies lost from control, either after they have left the maternity or after one or two orthopedic weekly examinations. There were various causes to explain this important number of babies lost from control but the attempts to reduce this number were disappointing during the six years of the study. We suggest that, for a better control of the babies, the personal of public health administration must be concerned in the neonatal prevention of congenital dislocation of the hip in a developing country under the medical supervision of a pediatrician or an orthopedist. Moreover, a too high number of neonates had been submitted to the abduction treatment, because there was a difficulty in differentiating Ortolani's and Barlow's signs. The abduction treatment is proposed for all the babies that could not be under medical examination in the developing countries to reduce the number of late diagnosis of congenital dislocation of the hip.