[Hip joint changes in meningomyelocele].

With an incidence of approx. 2% among newborns, meningomyelocele is a rarely encountered condition. Its clinical manifestations vary within very wide limits, ranging from minor disability to extremely severe limitation of physical function. The function of the trunk muscles and of the lower extremities, and especially that of the hip joints, is impaired to different degrees in the patients affected, depending on the severity of the paralysis. The changes associated with meningomyelocele are typical, and the therapeutic principles adopted will usually depend on individual findings. Taking the disability into account, the primary goal must be to achieve optimal function. The value of imaging procedures is secondary to this consideration. In recent years a number of conventional therapeutic principles have undergone substantial modifications.