Congenital dislocation of the knee

Between February 1988 and June 1995, 24 congenital dislocations of the knee joints (17 patients) were reduced with closed methods including immediate reduction, serial casting, or traction in patients from 10 min to 26 days o ld. At an average follow-up of 4 years and 10 months, an excellent or good result was achieved if there were no associated anomalies. Fair or poor res ults were the result of delayed treatment or associated musculoskeletal ano malies including arthrogryposis multiplex congenita or Larsen's syndrome. R outine check of the hip dislocation is suggested. Diagnosis with manual tes ting was difficult, and other methods such as radiography or sonography wer e suggested in combination to detect hip dysplasia. The dislocated knee sho uld be reduced before treating the hip dislocation. Concomitant treatment o f the congenital dislocation of the knee and the hip with Pavlik harness pr ovided satisfactory results. When late, progressive, genu valgus deformity occurred because of global instability of the knee and asymmetric physeal g rowth, reconstruction of the medial structures of the knee and prolonged br acing provided good results.