The aim was to compare the efficacy of selective ultrasound-screening (SUSS) for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) to clinical screening alone, by comparing outcomes in a contemporary group with those from a 40 year old cohort.

This was a retrospective cohort study. The department's DDH and surgical databases were used to identify all cases of DDH, and all cases of surgery for DDH during the study period (2009–13). Patients born outside our region, and teratologic cases were excluded from analysis. The Obstetric database provided the total number of live births over the five-year period. This data was used to calculate the incidence of late-diagnosis (age over 3 months) DDH and the rate of surgery for DDH in our region. These results were compared to those of a similar study from our institution published in 1977, after the introduction of universal clinical screening. Relative risk (RR) was calculated for the two groups, and analysed for statistical significance.

The incidence of late-diagnosis DDH over the recent 5-year study period was 0.66/1000 live births, compared to 0.6/1000 in the control group. The RR for late-diagnosis DDH was not significantly different between the two groups (RR 1.14, 95% CI 0.6 to 2.2). The rate of surgery for DDH was 0.86/1000, compared to 0.9/1000 live births in the control group. The RR for surgery for DDH in the current study population compared to the historic control was 0.97, but this difference was not statistically significant (95% C.I. 0.57 to 1.68; p=0.92).

Despite advances in screening for DDH over the last 40 years, neither the incidence of late diagnosis DDH, nor rates of surgery for DDH in our region have changed. Whilst previous studies have demonstrated that SUSS does not eliminate late-presenting DDH, this study suggests it confers no advantage over clinical screening alone.