title: Study of incidence and prevalence of musculoskeletal anomalies in a tertiary care hospital of eastern India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Congenital anomalies or malformations are anatomical. Structural or functional defects present at birth leads to physical and mental disabilities. With the advent of newer drugs, infectious diseases have taken the backseat and congenital defects have emerged as an important cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. In India, anomalies of musculoskeletal system have been most commonly reported.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  With this in view, the present study was carried out to find the incidence and types of musculoskeletal defects in a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India. Various maternal factors were also correlated and analyzed. The purpose of this communication is to report these defects so as to help doctors and parents to prevent unexpected fetal loss and better parental counseling.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was done in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in association with Department of Paediatrics of a tertiary care hospital in Odisha from for a period of 1 year. The newborns were examined within 1(st) three days of delivery for congenital malformations. The study group included all live borns along with still borns after 28 weeks of gestation or those dead babies whose weight was about 1kg. A thorough physical examination from head to toe was done to look for musculoskeletal defects within 24hrs of delivery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of total 7268 babies delivered, 116 babies were found to have anomalies. Thirty two of these had musculoskeletal defects. Talipes equinovarus was the commonest anomaly observed followed by polydactyly. The ratio of male babies with musculoskeletal defects to female babies was found to be 1.28:1.The malformed babies were mainly born to term mothers (77.6%), who were mostly unbooked (62.5%) and belonged to lower or middle class. But no significant relationship could be established between these factors and defects. Most mothers were in the age group of 20-35 years and there was no history of drug addiction, smoking, trauma or irradiation that could be related to the occurrence of congenital malformations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is concluded that better maternal care and improved standards of living have very little effect on the overall frequency of congenital malformations. For the better future of neonates an early recognition of correctable lesions is essential, which calls for a systematic approach to the study of musculoskeletal defects.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, IMS & SUM Hospital , SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India .
authors.forename: Divya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, IMS & SUM Hospital , SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India .
authors.forename: Biswa Bhusan
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Mohanty
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, IMS & SUM Hospital , SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India .
authors.forename: Rachita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarangi
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, IMS & SUM Hospital , SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India .
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Obstetiric and Gynaecology, IMS & SUM Hospital , SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India .
authors.forename: Susanta Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
authors.affiliation: Professor and HOD, Department of Anatomy, IMS & SUM Hospital , SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India .
authors.forename: Prafulla Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Chinara
keywords: Congenital; Incidence; Musculoskeletal; Newborns