Innominate osteotomy has been performed in a selected group of fifteen patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease who were considered to have an over-all poor prognosis on the basis of age, stage of the disease, femoral-acetabular incongruity, and extensive involvement of the femoral head. The results of this form of treatment were then compared with those of a conservative regimen in a similar group of patients. A preliminary evaluation of the results obtained in a three-year follow-up shows that:
I. Innominate osteotomy appears to have yielded significantly better results in the treatment of the child over the age of seven with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease with total femoral head involvement and inadequate acetabular coverage of the femoral epiphysis.
2. This operation, performed in Stage II and early Stage III of the disease, produced satisfactory remolding of the femoral head, but this was not the case with innominate osteotomy performed in late Stage III.
3. The necessity for long-term immobilization has been eliminated by this procedure.