Pattern of congenital orthopeadic malformations in an African teaching hospital

Abstract

Congenital Orthopaedic malformations are common malformations that are usually unacceptable to the common populace in the West African sub-region. There is paucity of knowledge about the common types of Orthopaedic congenital malformations in our environment This study was undertaken to determine the pattern of congenital Orthopaedic malformations in a Teaching Hospital. This was a prospective study of all the Orthopaedic congenital malformations seen in our surgical outpatient departments and the inpatient referrals from the wards between January 1995 and December 2003. There were 284 patients in total with a male to female ratio of 2:1 and age range between two days to nine years. Clubfoot (CTEV) accounted for 52.8% of all the malformations while Congenital knee dislocation (CDK) and calcaneovalgus deformity accounted for 8%. Congenital hip dislocation (CDH) accounted for only 2.2% of all the cases. Congenital talipes equinovarus deformity is the most common congenital orthopaedic malformation in this environment while congenital hip dislocation (CDH) is rare when compared with the Caucasians.