Open adductor tenotomy in the prevention of hip subluxation in cerebral palsy

We reviewed radiographs of 76 hips in 41 patients with cerebral palsy treated with open adductor tenotomy because of hip subluxation. The majority of patients suffered from spastic diplegia. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of adductor release on hip subluxation. We measured the centre-edge angle and migration percentage pre-operatively and 1 and 3 years post-operatively. We considered the results according to patients’ age at time of surgery (younger or older than 4 years of age) and ability to walk. Children younger than 4 years of age had better results than children older than 4 years of age. In children without walking ability, more than half of the hips had further radiological subluxation. In children with walking ability, we observed stabilisation or improvement of femoral-head subluxation in more than three quarters of the cases.