ORTHOPEDIC EXAMINATION OF 1500 INFANTS IN MATERNITY

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 22  (6) , 365-387
Abstract
Human infants (1500) were examined by orthopedic surgeons .ltoreq. 48 h after birth. Examination of the feet showed that the usual position in utero was dorsiflexion. A new classification of feet deformities is proposed. Examination of the knees showed a rotatory instability between the femur and the tibia in 2% of the infants. Some of them were actual dislocations. Hip instability was present; passive abduction, tension of the adductors and an abduction contracture were analyzed. Some instable hips are easy to detect because there is a jerk (ressaut) but others are very difficult because there is no snapping sign but only a telescoping displacement (piston). The rate of unstable hips was 1.7%. Since the combination of an unstable hip and an adductor hypertonicity is usual, it is very important to detect a pelvic obliquity and a bilateral adductor-hypertonicity. The various forms of normal birth postures and the relation to orthopedic deformities of the inferior limbs are studied.