Fifty-three children born with a myelomeningocele were reviewed five to ten years following hip surgery. The natural history of hip instability in these children was studied.
In fifty-eight hips in thirty-three children the operative treatment included a posterior iliopsoas tendon transplantation. At review, twenty-three of these hips were unstable, thirty-four were stable, and one hip had fused. Twenty-five of the thirty-three children were capable of some form of independent gait.