title: Results of hip arthrodesis in adolescents by using the cobra-head plate for internal fixation.
abstract: A retrospective study was conducted to examine the efficacy and potential morbidity of hip fusion using the Cobra-head plate in adolescents. A heterogeneous group of 11 adolescents, with recalcitrant hip pain and an average age of 14.6 years, underwent unilateral hip arthrodesis with the Cobra-head plate for internal fixation. Seven (64%) patients achieved an uneventful clinical and radiographic arthrodesis after a mean postoperative interval of 7.4 months. Four index operations (36%) were complicated by pseudarthrosis. All patients who developed a postoperative pseudarthrosis ranked at or above the 90th percentile for their age-determined weight. The relationship between the percentile-weight-for-age and the incidence of pseudarthrosis was statistically significant (p < or = 0.001). Hip-arthrodesis procedures with the Cobra-head plate in adolescents at or above the 90th percentile weight-for-age are associated with an unacceptably high rate of pseudarthrosis. In this subset of patients, alternate or supplementary stabilization methods should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC 20307, USA.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Klemme
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Skinner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D018771:Arthralgia / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D001174:Arthrodesis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D001835:Body Weight; D001860:Bone Plates; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011542:Pseudarthrosis / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome