Twelve children with lumbar-level myelodysplasia (average age, eight and
three-quarter years) underwent twenty-one pelvic displacement osteotomies
for subluxated or dislocated hips. Nineteen of the twenty-one hips remained
reduced on three-year follow-up. Gains in gait pattern, ease of bracing,
and reduced pelvic obliquity were noted. Active function about the hips was
not improved, nor was there a decrease in the amount of bracing needed
following the osteotomy. Pelvic displacement osteotomy can be utilized in
selected cases as part of the over-all management of chronic hip
dislocation in myelodysplasia.