Eleven hips of 11 patients (8 boys, 3 girls; mean age, 7.5 years) with a di
agnosis of Perthes disease underwent distraction using an Ilizarov external
fixator. All patients had one or more Catterall signs of poor prognosis, w
ith four hips classified as Herring class B and seven as class C. Patients
were followed for a mean of 36 months. Average time for wearing the fixator
was 99 days (range, 40-150 days). After fixator removal, containment was l
ost in two more patients and was sustained in only four patients. The most
common complication was pin track infection, which occurred in eight patien
ts. The low rate of success found does not justify the routine use of this
technique.