You know the test they do in the hospital on newborns where they rotate the hips back and forth? I never gave it much thought or knew what it checked for until now. When they did the test on Henrik his hips made a slight click on the left side.
Over the last month we have had two sets of ultrasounds to determine whether he has pediatric hip dysplasia. It turns out that he has a mild case - his hip sockets are a little shallow, so when he moves his legs, his hip joint slips around a bit (more severe cases involve hips that are dislocated or that easily dislocate). This could cause chronic hip pain as he ages and an early hip replacement if untreated. They aren't sure what caused it - the most common cause is being in a breach position, but he wasn't. The doctors think it could be due to his large size - his positioning in-utero could have impacted the development.
We are lucky that they caught his dysplasia early because it is very treatable. We went to see an Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon yesterday and he said there is a 95%-97% success rate. The treatment involves Henrik wearing a Pavlik Harness 24hrs a day for 6-12 weeks. The harness keeps his legs in froggy position so that the hip joint can form around his ball joints as he continues to grow and develop. Though the harness looks uncomfortable and bulky, it really doesn't cause any discomfort for Henrik - he can still move quite a bit - it just keeps his legs from being fully extended. He still easily can feed, go in his car seat, be swaddled, etc.
The harness isn't exactly a stellar fashion statement, but I'm sure we'll find some ways to disguise it. We're thankful that they caught this early and that there is such a high correction rate. We're just praying that the harness works for Henrik.
Here is our happy boy in what I like to call his Lederhosen :)
Oh, sweetie pie. He looks different already from when we saw him earlier this week. I'm glad this is pretty easily corrected.
ReplyDelete