Twenty-three patients with twenty-six congenital hip dislocations
treated by the Ferguson procedure were reviewed. The study was undertaken
to determine if this method of treatment has any effect on the incidence of
avascular necrosis of the femoral head and if there are preoperative
factors that can assist in predicting the success of treatment. Clinical
and roentgenographic criteria were utilized and only dislocations of the
hip unassociated with other disorders were included. Avascular necrosis did
not occur in these patients during the period studied. It was also found
that patients who were more than twelve months old at the time of operation
and had a acetabular index of 40 degrees or more had a high incidence of
redislocation.