No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Hip dysplasia is a spectrum of disease. There are established screening programmes for its detection in childhood, but there is also increasing interest in its presentation and surgical treatment at skeletal maturity. This study was aimed at establishing patterns of operative treatment for hip dysplasia in the UK using the hospital episode statistics database over an 11-year period. From a total of 12 100 operations during this interval, there has been no significant change in the level of intervention in the paediatric population. There has, however, been a four-fold rise in procedures in the adult population over the same timeframe.

Sir,We thank Messrs Deakin, Wood and Barrie for their interest.We agree that functional bracing is now established as a proven technique for early mobilisation after repairs of tendo Achillis. We began using the new percutaneous repair in 1992, however, when functional bracing was only just becoming established.We are currently carrying out a randomised, controlled trial, comparing percutaneous repair and the non-operative management of acute ruptures of tendo Achillis. We have recruited 70 patients to date and both groups have functional bracing in their rehabilitation programme. The non-operative group begins controlled mobilisation of the ankle after 2.5 weeks and patients in the operative group, who have had a percutaneous repair, are braced one week after surgery.We hope to present the results of this trial within the next year.