need for infant screening in early diagnosis of congenital hip dislocation

Most congenital dislocated hips are in apparent and asymptomatic during neonatal period and infancy, even though at such a time a high percentage can be detected. Treatment during this period can decrease the late sequelae of the congenital dislocation of the hip. This paper reports the clinical feature the presenting symptoms and the reasons of delay in the treatment of 88 patients with congenital dislocation of the hip admitted to the fifth orthopaedic unit, at Saddens Medical City, Baghdad between March 1988 and July 1990. The findings indicate that there is an urgent need for an early diagnosis program and for a screening institution for the congenital dislocation of the hip to minimize disability and the need for surgery