Incidence of Late-Diagnosed Hip Dysplasia After Different Screening Methods in Newborns

We compared the effectiveness of different approaches to hip screening in newborns. Three groups were studied: children born in our hospital from 1980 through 1985 who were clinically examined by pediatricians (group A), children born in 1986 and 1987 who were examined by ultrasound (US) in addition to clinical examination (group B), and children born in three district hospitals where neonatal clinical screening had not been performed by pediatricians (group C). There were significant differences between the three groups in the incidence of late-diagnosed hip dysplasia (HD): 2.6 in 1,000, 0.7 in 1,000, and 5.3 in 1,000, respectively. We conclude that US screening of hips in newborns was more effective than clinical screening alone and that clinical screening by pediatricians was superior to screening by doctors with less experience in examining children. US appears to have the potential to eradicate late-diagnosed dislocations, but milder degrees of HD still occur. With regard to the US method, measurement of femoral head coverage appears to be more adequate than subjective evaluation only.