We know that the first year of a baby’s life is decisive in many ways. During this time the baby forms many systems of the body, including the bone system. One of the most common orthopedic problems of a newborn is hip dysplasia.
We asked a specialist of My Canadian Pharmacy to describe and explain this pathology and answer the questions that most often concern young parents.
Top Questions about Hip Dysplasia Development in a Child
Question number 1. Why the child should necessarily be monitored by the orthopedist in the first year of life, if his crumbs seem to be all right?
Children often have diseases of the musculoskeletal system during the first months of life. The most common disease is dysplasia of the hip joints, which we will discuss. There are several degrees of severity of this pathology, the extreme of which is a dislocation of the hip joint. The danger of this condition is that it is a hidden congenital pathology, i.e. only a specialist can recognize it in time. Therefore, a diagnosis is often made too late and the precious time that could be used for treatment is missed. Unfortunately, such situations always turn into serious consequences for the child due to gross violations of motor development and, of course, gait.
Question number 2. What are the causes of hip dysplasia?
Dysplasia of the hip joints arises as a result of improper development of the constituent elements of the hip joint – bone-cartilaginous base, ligamentous-capsular or muscular apparatus of the joint – in the intrauterine period.
According to My Canadian Pharmacy statistics, girls have this pathology 4-7 times more often than boys. Moreover, congenital dislocation of the femur are usually observed in children born in breech presentation.
The cause of dysplasia is the delay in the development of a normal hip joint during fetal life due to:
- Heredity;
- the “elderly” age of parents;
- infectious diseases of the mother during pregnancy;
- endocrine pathologies;
- toxicosis (especially the first half of pregnancy);
- breech presentation of the fetus.
Dysplasia development may also be affected by:
- Poor environmental conditions,
- harmful working conditions,
- unbalanced nutrition of the future mother,
- lack of vitamins and minerals that contribute to the proper formation of connective tissue and the mineralization of cartilaginous tissue.
Question number 3. What are the symptoms of dysplasia?
Neonatologists start diagnosing a neonatal disease in a newborn in the maternity hospital. In addition, the baby should be examined by an orthopedist at the age of 1, 3, 6 months and 1 year.
Paying attention to the following symptoms. you can suspect a dislocation in a child:
- When you try to cam the hip, the child begins to cry;
- There is a symptom of a “click” or slipping;
- Asymmetry of the gluteal fold;
- Shortening of the leg;
- A turn of the foot outside.
These symptoms can manifest together or separately. If they are detected, the doctor recommends an ultrasound diagnosis and radiography, which allow you to determine the degree of the disease more accurately.
Question number 4. How is this pathology treated?
With a mild degree of disease, treatment can be limited to a wide swaddling. In more severe cases, doctors use tire spacers and other special devices – up to plastering. See a full guidelines on how to treat dysplasia in children.
Question number 5. How can you protect a newborn child from dysplasia?
An orthopedic physician should regularly monitor the physical development of your child. The terms for visiting this specialist are not accidental: each of them is associated with certain changes in the organism of the baby.
Timely diagnosis and adequate treatment can restore the function of the joint almost completely. Thus, we emphasize once again, early diagnosis is crucial for successful treatment.