Importance of the iliopsoas muscle in soft-tissue surgery of hip deformities in cerebral palsy children.

Twenty cerebral palsy patients who had undergone soft-tissue surgery at the hip (adductor tenotomy, medial lengthening of the hamstrings) were compared with a matched group of another 20 patients with a similar age range and findings and with additionally performed iliopsoas release, 2 or more years after surgery. Extension deficits of the hip did not improve with the addition of iliopsoas release. Internal rotation deformities showed equal improvement in both groups; the influence of the iliopsoas procedure was not significant. Adduction deformities, as documented on roentgenograms of the hip, showed significant improvement, however. Postural anomalies were not essentially influenced by iliopsoas release. Hip dislocations and subluxations, as assessed by the CE angles, were positively influenced by additional iliopsoas release; however, more effective improvement was obtained with ischiocrural elongation.