Screening Infants For Hip Problems

If you’ve had a baby, chances are during a physical exam, you’ve seen his or her hips being checked by the doctor. Usually, this is done by lying the baby on the back and spreading the legs in such a way (knees bent) to see how the hips are working.

The reason for this check is the doctors are looking for hip dysplasia , an abnormality of the hips where the joint doesn’t work properly and can easily slip out of place and become dislocated. Serious cases are usually noticed but some babies don’t have an obvious case and may get missed.

It may not seem to be a serious thing if the hip isn’t hurting and the baby begins to walk on time so the first reaction may be, why does it matter if it’s not found. The issue isn’t so much the here and now, but as the child grows and develops into adulthood. Studies have shown that children with hip dysplasia have a higher rate of developing arthritis in the hip when they’re young adults.

Arthritis in the hip can be extremely painful and debilitating, causing a drastic drop in quality of life and ability to earn money, if not treatable.

For this reason, studies are being done about the importance and effectiveness of screening, with the latest one the July 2009 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). The researchers found that screening all infants for hip dysplasia can significantly decrease their chance of developing early arthritis.

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