Hip Dysplaysia Support Group

[MonicaP]

Hi All,
Kell 4- I hope all goes well tomorrow at your appointment.
My daughter Hayley went straight into a spica at 4 months, we have two weeks left and then a brace for 2 months (hopefully that is all).
It was really hard for my husband and I at first and I was an absolute mess in the hospital on the day it went on, but you do get used to it and although Hayley was terribly upset for the first 24 hours after that she was fine and has been her happy self ever since. She adapted far more quickly then her mum and dad.
I hope this is of some help and I will be thinking of you tomorrow. Let us know how it all goes. If you have any questions about the spica feel free to ask.
Monica
XXX

[Kell4]

Hi All,
Kell 4- I hope all goes well tomorrow at your appointment.
My daughter Hayley went straight into a spica at 4 months, we have two weeks left and then a brace for 2 months (hopefully that is all).
It was really hard for my husband and I at first and I was an absolute mess in the hospital on the day it went on, but you do get used to it and although Hayley was terribly upset for the first 24 hours after that she was fine and has been her happy self ever since. She adapted far more quickly then her mum and dad.
I hope this is of some help and I will be thinking of you tomorrow. Let us know how it all goes. If you have any questions about the spica feel free to ask.
Monica
XXX

Hi MonicaP and All

well at the ortho. app all was not well, my baby chloe who will be 7months on the 10th Feb. is only 6.3kgs and needs surgery on her right hip and a spica, Im sooooo damn scared she is sooooo little I dont know what to do and its going to get worse the day of the opp. (still un-known) please feel free to add me to msn:kell27-4@hotmail.com I dont know wat to expect, im sooooo lost my poor baby dont know what she's in for yet and we got 3other kiddies to look after, its going to be sooooo very hard, xxxxx take care to all

[belfie]

hi folks,

I'm hoping to pick your brains pretty pls!! We've been referred by our paediatrician for an u/s as my 4 m.o. DS has a "clicky" left hip - only just picked up in the last few weeks by our MHCN. In all previous checks by MHCN, paed & GP he was fine. So in regard to the u/s I was just wondering if there are any particular questions that are useful to ask or information to watch out for? Our u/s is midday on Monday. And do you know if you usually get the results on the spot? Or did you have to wait?

I guess I'm particularly wary cos i've got a girlfriend who's bub has DDH and she was initially told it was really minor and to go see her paed a few months later... when she rang him to double check, after reviewing the case he said no, it's not minor come straight in and her bub has worn a brace since. So I guess I just want to make sure I don't get fobbed off or delayed if it's potentially risky.

TIA,
Belfie

[MonicaP]

Hi All,
Kell4 and Belfie my heart goes out to you both. I know exactly how you feel.
Kell4- To give you some idea of what to expect the spica Hayley went into went from her waist to her toes and had a bar across it between the ankles (they leave a hole around the groin area). It was very upsetting to see at first and also hard because she was also upset. However she did adapt to it very well and by the next day she was fine although it took alot longer for me to get used to it, it is very hard to see your gorgeous baby in a spica and I cried alot for the first few days. Hayley is also 7 months now and weighs 6.5kg and like I said before she adapted very quickly to it. It did affect her night sleep for awhile but we were told to expect this. I also have an older son and after some intial questioning he has been really good and understanding with her (he is 5). Hayley is completely immobile in her spica so we have to make sure that we are alternating her positions alot so she isn't always in the same postion ie on tummy, laying down, propping her up (a bean bag is good for this). We have two weeks left in the spica (it has been on for 3 months with a change at 6 weeks and 10 weeks) and then she goes into a brace for 2 months. The x-ray we had last wednesday showed the hip to be nicely in the socket so although it has been difficult to see her in it, it has so far done its job.
Belfie- Hayley was four months when her dysplasia was detected (missed by 2 paeds and a clinic nurse). She has it only in her right hip. It was a clinic nurse (a different one) who picked it up. She wrote a letter which I took to my GP the next day. He sent me for an x-ray and we got the results that day. He then referred me to a paediatric orthopedic surgeon and I got in a week later (we asked to be put on a cancellation list so got in a bit earlier). He said that although she was only 4 months its not as early as they like to find it so she had go into a spica for three months. He put the spica on about 5 days after our first appointment. I would think you should get the results of the u/s back the same day and then get in to see the ortho as soon as possible, so that everything should happen quickly. From the time of detection to the time the spica went on was 2 weeks. Questions I asked included developmental delays eg rolling, crawling etc, length of time spica and brace will be on for (5 months for Hayley if everything goes the way it should). I found that our ortho explained alot to us in the initial meeting and my questions just stemmed from that conversation.
Please feel free to ask me any questions as I know your heads are probably swimming at the moment. I hope I have been of some help and I wish you both well!
Monica

[bridee]

Belfie - while my DD situation is a little different - she was picked up at 6weeks the process from the ultrsound should be similar. We were told at the ultrasound there was a problem and that the results would be sent straight to the paed who would then make an app. to see us. The paed actually called that afternoon who said he had arranged for us to see an orth surg the following week (we didn't need to go and see the paed). We saw the orth surg the following week. At the app he explained what would be happen. Be aware they are generally very reluctant to give time frames because every child is different. It is only after they have seen how the treatment is going that they will give possible timeframes. That certainly was one frustrating part. DD was in a pavlik harness and that was fitted at the Children's Hospital the day we saw the orth surg.

We saw the orth surg as a private patient apparently that does make a difference to the time frame but that was just something a physio said to us that we were seeing for a seperate issue with DD.

[minimatron]

Hey Belfie- good luck with your appointment today. In reguards to questions.... I asked loads of them at Rebeccas u/s because I knew all about DDH as Olivia was in a Pavlik Harness for a good while, so I am up with the lingo so to speak. I think you should ask if the hip is in place. Does the cup cover the ball, is the ball formed, is the cup formed, is the hip dislocatable, what is the coverage in percentage? Thats the basic terms for it. They are looking to see if the hip is formed properly and sitting in the correct position and if it can come out easily or not.
As for results, I went through public at Monash and we get our results a week later at the orthopaed clinic.
For us its been very different this time around. When Olivia had her first u/s they didnt say much....basically her hips werent formed and they didnt want to give us bad news!!!.....we waited a week for that!
With Rebecca, because i knew what to look for and they knew my first had hip dysplasia, they were open and honest with me. Rebecca has a rounding of her left hip cup, so we have to go back next week for another u/s and then followup orthopead review.

All the best....sorry if I have rambled...lack of sleep!!!

[belfie]

Monica, Bridee, Minimatron - thank you so much for the info, it's really helpful!

I've listed the questions below that I've gleaned from all of you (figure it might be handy for someone else one day too - plus helps me organise my thoughts lol):

• Is the hip in place?
• Does the cup cover the ball?
• Is the ball formed?
• is the cup formed?
• is the hip dislocatable?
• what is the coverage in percentage?
• When/how will we get the results?
• Questions for orth surg: developmental delays eg rolling, crawling etc, length of time spica and brace will be on for...

I've been told to call my paed's rooms to let them know once it's been done, but I do hope we'll get an indication at the scan. So saying, my paed is only in his rooms every friday so I suspect if there is anything, it'll be just a referral straight to an orth surg.

Thank you so much for the info, it's really helped - and even though it's made me nervous, I'd rather be prepared & informed. A bit of worry is a small price to pay. And I hope all your little ones are going well and Minimatron - good luck with Rebecca's next u/s.
Belfie

[minimatron]

Hi Just letting you know that rebeccas review went well. The specialst seems to think that it will resolve itself. Her thigh creases are a bit uneven and her left hip is stiffer than the right, but its stable and he couldnt dislocate it. We go back in 9 weeks to see if there is change. Thanks for listening, I'll be back in 8 weeks to vent again coz I know for sure I will be nervous!!!

[nicoli]

Hi guys

I just found out at my 20 week scan that we are having a boy! At least his chances of having DDH is slightly less because of his gender.

Nicole

[minimatron]

Congratulations Nicole, hope all is well for his little hips