The long-term results of brace treatment in Perthes disease
Servet Kerimoğlu1, Atilla Çıtlak2, Celal Baki1, Hafız Aydın1
1Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Ortopedi ve Travmatoloji Anabilim Dalı, Trabzon, Türkiye
2Giresun Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Ortopedi ve Travmatoloji Anabilim Dalı, Giresun, Türkiye
Keywords: Perthes disease; splints; tedavi sonucu.
Abstract
Objectives: We evaluated the long-term radiological outcomes of the patients with Perthes disease who were conservatively treated with brace.
Patients and methods: Thirty-three hips of 27 skeletally mature patients (21 males, 6 females; mean age 25.2±3.4 years; range 20 to 32 years) treated with modified Thomas splint were included in this study. The results were evaluated according to the Stulberg classification.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 6.3±2.2 (range 3-12) years at the onset of the disease and the mean follow-up was 18.6±3.2 (range 7.2-24.1) years. According to onset of the disease, good results were obtained for the patients who were less than six-years-old as 77.7%, between 6-9 years old as 84.2%, after nine years old as 40%. However, 100% of the Herring group A hips, 79.2% of the group B hips and 50% of the group C hips were healed with Stulberg class I or II results.
Conclusion: We obtained satisfactory results after conservative treatment with Thomas splint in patients who were between 6-9 years old at onset of the disease with Herring group B involvement. It is hard to say whether the good results were stemmed from having good prognosis of these patients, or stemmed from positive effect of using brace on treatment.