Screening for Hip Dysplasia Medscape

Description: The question of what to do with newborns with mild hip dysplasia remains controversial because many cases will resolve with no intervention. Recently, a decision analysis was published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, which supports the basic recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for screening all newborns with physical exam and employing ultrasound only in select cases. However, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published a review in 2006, which noted that the quality of evidence in the literature is insufficient to recommend screening; also, the American College of Radiology, which recently issued appropriateness criteria for imaging and treatment of children with developmental dysplasia of the hip, noted that there is no consensus opinion with regard to optimal imaging screening for developmental hip dysplasia. Medscape's Pippa Wysong spoke to Susan Mahan, MD, MPH, lead author of the new decision analysis, about the issues around hip dysplasia screening.