In an attempt to accelerate the healing process, an incomplete
intertrochanteric osteotomy was performed over a ten-year period in
fifty-three patients (fifty-four hips) with Legg-Calve-Perthes disease.
Radiographs of the hips that had been operated on were reviewed to
establish the length of time that was required to attain completion of
bone-healing of the femoral head and completion of the resorption stage of
the disease. These healing times were then compared with those of a control
group of thirty-six patients (forty-three hips) who had had non-operative
treatment for Legg-Calve-Perthes disease in our institution, as well as
with the data from other studies on this subject in the orthopaedic
literature. In our experience, an incomplete intertrochanteric osteotomy
did not in any way alter the rate of healing of Legg-Calve-Perthes
disease.