Background: For 0- to 6-month-old patients with developmental dislocation of the hip, the likelihood of Pavlik harness treatment failure may be increased. The human position brace is an available option. We aimed to compare therapeutic efficacy between the Pavlik harness and human position brace.
Methods: We included 87 patients (106 hips) in the human position brace group and 47 patients (62 hips) in the Pavlik harness group. Clinical and radiologic outcomes were recorded and compared, respectively.
Results: The mean follow-up was 17.73±14.56 months (range, 5 to 56 mo). Human position brace produced higher success rates (65.1% vs. 43.5%; P=0.006) and had significant advantages in the 4 to 6 months group (P<0.001). According to the last follow-up x-ray, when compared with that of the Pavlik harness group, upper space was larger (P=0.032) and inner space was smaller (P<0.001) in the human position brace group.
Conclusions: Given the increased success rates and better hip development by the last follow-up, the human position brace could be considered as an alternative, or even as the first choice for 4- to 6-month-old infants with developmental dislocation of the hip to address the specific deficits of Pavlik harness.
Level of evidence: Level III-retrospective comparison.
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