Eight-year prospective targeted ultrasound screening program for instability and at-risk hip joints in developmental dysplasia of the hip.

The use of targeted ultrasound screening for at-risk hips to reduce the rate of surgery in developmental dysplasia of the hip is unproven. A prospective trial was undertaken in an attempt to clarify this matter. This study was undertaken between May 1992 and April 2000. There were 28,676 live births. Unstable and at-risk hips were routinely targeted for ultrasound examination. One thousand eight hundred six infants underwent ultrasound examination (6.3% of the birth population). Twenty-five children (18 with dislocations, 7 with dysplasia) required surgical intervention in the form of open reduction of the hip or pelvic or femoral osteotomy (0.87 per 1,000 births for dysplasia, 0.63 per 1,000 births for dislocation). Targeted ultrasound screening does not reduce the overall rate of surgery compared with the best conventional clinical screening programs. The development of a national targeted ultrasound screening program for at-risk hips cannot be justified on a cost or result basis.