Hip dislocation in cerebral palsy: selection for treatment.

Forty-five patients with cerebral palsy hip-dislocation were reviewed and it was found that some did well without treatment. For patients with hip pain, the best results were obtained with extensive resection arthroplasty: soft-tissue surgery alone was unsuccessful. Open reduction with femoral osteotomy achieved concentric reduction in all 15 patients who had this type of surgery: however, most retained their abnormal postural reflex activity to such a degree that subsequent scoliosis, pelvic obliquity, hip extension contractures and knee flexion deformities compromised the success of the hip surgery.