Treatment for Mild Hip Dysplasia in Newborns

February 11, 2009 updated by: University of Bergen

Immediate Treatment Compared With Active Sonographic Surveillance in the Management of Mild Hip Dysplasia in Newborn Infants: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Developmental dysplasia of the hip is the most common musculoskeletal disorder in infancy, with a reported prevalence of 2% of all newborns. Although newborn screening programs based on clinical examination with Ortolani and Barlow tests were introduced in the 1950's and 1960's with early abduction splinting of the 2% testing positive, the prevalence of late cases warranting surgery has remained stable, around one per 1000. This has led to the introduction of ultrasound as an additional diagnostic tool, resulting in treatment rates of until 5-6%. This three fold increase in abduction splinting treatment is partly due to the initiation of treatment of infants in whom mild hip dysplasia but no hip instability has been identified. The benefit of early treatment of mild dysplasia in a hip that is neither dislocated nor dislocatable is unclear. Further, abduction splinting is not without risk, with avascular necrosis being reported in around 1%. The investigators conducted a masked, randomized, controlled trial to examine whether mildly dysplastic but stable or instable hips would benefit from early treatment, as compared to watchful waiting.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

140 newborns with stable (not dislocatable or dislocated) but mildly dysplastic hips, born at the Maternity Hospital, Haukeland University Hospital, from 1997 onwards.

The newborns will be randomly assigned to one of two groups (number in sealed envelope, see flow chart). Because the newborns are recruited from a high risk group (60% with a positive family history and 35% breech), these risk factors are considered to be equally distributed in the two study groups. Stratification is therefore considered unnecessary.

For the controls, treatment will be started at age 1.5 months in cases of persistent dysplasia, i.e. a α-angle <50º, while treatment will be continued in the treatment group if the α-angle is ≤53º. At 3 months, treatment will be discontinued if the α-angle is ≥55º or started if α-angle is<55º. Treatment continued beyond 3 months will be discontinued when the AI is within two standard deviations according to the reference values from Tönnis and Brunken.

The study will require randomisation of 128 subjects into two equally sized groups to obtain 80% statistical power to detect a 3º difference of the α-angle. Less than 128 infants will be required to detect a similar difference in AI on radiography. To compensate for an expected rate of ineligibility and loss to follow-up of up to ten per cent, 140 patients will be enrolled.

PRACTICAL ISSUES The clinical hip-examinations will be performed at the maternity ward during day 1-3, by a physician with at least 2 years of pediatric experience. The hip joints will be classified as stable, unstable, dislocatable or dislocated. TM has the responsibility for the clinical re-examination prior to enrollement.

Ultrasound screening of newborns with increased risk for CDH is common practice at the maternity unit. Newborns eligible for the present study will be recruited from this high-risk group (about 13% of all newborns). To avoid inter-examination bias, all the ultrasound examinations will be performed by one examiner (KR), using a GE RT 3000, 5 MHz linear probe at KKB, and an ATL HDI 3000 machine with a 5 MHz linear probe or an Acuson 10XP, 5 MHz linear probe at the Section of Pediatric Radiology).

The ultrasound examinations will be performed according to a modified Graf procedure (Rosendahl), including both hip morphology and hip stability. Newborns with stable hips and a confirmed mild dysplasia on the second ultrasound examination will be re-examined clinically by TM, HR or TA prior to invitation to the study. After written informed consent has been given, the patient will attend the out patient clinic at BKB. A nurse will open the sealed envelope with a random number, and the newborn will enter the control or the treatment group. All data will be exported into SPSS by KR. RTL is the statistical adviser.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

140

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

1 day to 5 days (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Birth weight > 2500 g
  • Mild hip dysplasia on ultrasound day 1-2
  • Written informed consent given

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Birth weight less than 2500 g and/or severe congenital malformation(s)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Active Sonographic surveillance
Follow-up at 1.5 and 3 months (Ultrasound,Clinical examination), at 6 and 12 months (clinical examination, pelvic X-ray)
Experimental: Abduction treatment
Treatment (abduction splint) from 0-6 weeks, follow-up at 1.5 and 3 months (clinical examination and ultrasound) and at 6 and 12 months (clinical examination and pelvic x-ray)
Device: Abduction treatment
Abduction treatment with a Frejka's pillow for 6 weeks
Other Names:
  • Pavlik harness

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The acetabular index (AI), assessed from anterior-posterior pelvic radiographs obtained according to a standardized protocol at age 12 months
Time Frame: 12 months
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
We also report the proportion of children requiring treatment in the first year of life and its duration, and the proportion of children in each group with radiological ossification delay or dysplasia at one year of age.
Time Frame: 12 months
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Bergen

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Karen Rosendahl, PhD, Institute of Surgical Sciences, University of Bergen

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

February 1, 1998

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2003

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 11, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 11, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

February 13, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 13, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 11, 2009

Last Verified

February 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Mild hip dysplasia

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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