Dear Suvdaa,
Thank you for contacting the Hippy team.
Congratulations on your baby daughter turning one. She seems to have had an eventful first year, and it is good news that she recovered from her potentially serious illnesses.
I'm sure you will understand that it is difficult to piece together the entire course of your daughter's hip problems without having seen her in the past and without radiographs, and in addition we do not tend to comment on individual cases but rather give guidance on good hip heath.
Having said that, from your message it seems that your child was treated for an infection and was later diagnosed with hip dysplasia. From your description of her damaged left femoral head, I wonder whether she had septic arthritis rather than osteomyelitis. In any case the principles of treatment are to ensure eradication of the infection and containment of the femoral head beneath the acetabulum (socket) so that the hips can develop as normally as possible. In the first few months this can be done using a Pavlik harness but once the child is a bit older a rhino cruiser is usually employed, which can be utilised up to about 18 months of age. If X-rays show improvement the use of it can be weaned off to night times and nap times, but there should be regular follow up to ensure hip movement and development is proceeding as planned.
For hips that are not improving despite the above measures or if the dysplasia is picked up late (after 18 months), then surgery is often required to ensure the hips are well located. This involves doing soft tissue releases to ensure the femoral head can fit in the acetabulum, which may be accompanied by some osteotomies (reshaping of the bone). The child is then put in a hip spica cast for a few weeks in the reduced position until the bones are healed.
There is no doubt that your daughter's case is complex, but again I must stress that the priority is clearing any traces of infection and once that has been done the focus will be on containing the hips to ensure normal development.
I hope that this has been of use to you, but should you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact the Hippy team.
