Timely radiographic detection of developmental dysplasia of the hip in family medicine residents. Educative intervention.

Background: Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a complex clinical entity that is usually underdiagnosed, if not detected and managed early, will turn the affected individual into a disabled being, with negative social, economic and emotional effects.

Objective: To determine the capacity for the timely radiographic detection of DDH before and after an educational intervention.

Method: An educational intervention is carried out in family medicine resident, where they are given training on detection in DDH radiographic projections. Pre- and post-training evaluation is carried out. Statistical analysis is performed using Student's t and χ², taking p ≤ 0.05 as significant.

Results: 94 residents participated. In the pre-intervention evaluation, 87.2% had no knowledge of the early detection protocol (p = 0.525). It was observed that 98.9% incorrectly drew the Perkins line (p = 0.427), 96.8% the Hilgenreiner line (p = 0.177) and 87.2% did not consider the data of bilateral dysplasia (p = 0.956). After the educational intervention, 87.2% correctly drew the Perkins line (p = 0.926), 97.8% the Hilgenreiner line (p = 0.325) and 78.7% if they considered the data of bilateral dysplasia (p = 0.826).

Conclusions: After this training, 80% of family medicine residents were able to detect DDH in a timely manner.