I wanted to give you all an update from Georgia’s follow up appointment with the pediatric orthopedist this morning. Overall the appointment went well and no immediate concerns noted. Due to Georgia’s new development of separation anxiety she either cried or held onto me like cling wrap throughout the visit!
The doctor took a couple x-rays and then took a measurement to determine if the bone is developing as it should be. A normal angle for a child Georgia’s age is 20% or lower. Georgia’s is between 24%-26% (the measurement cannot be exact due to movement in the x-ray). One hip is a little better than the other and the socket is started to curve. This doesn’t overly concern the doctor and he doesn’t recommend that any form of intervention be done at this point. Abnormal is 30% or above and at that time he would put Georgia in a brace. According to him, there is no good research to suggest a brace is effective for where Georgia is at. He kept referring to her as borderline and states most kids in this range improve.
So she does have hip dysphasia which he referred to as a silent disease thus we will not be able to notice this in Georgia’s development or walking in any way. Basically it means her hip isn’t growing as quickly as it should be. If it does not continue to grow as it should then the hip socket will not become rounded (they are a flat angle at birth) and problems wouldn’t become evident until adulthood (probably arthritis). The doctor is hopeful that her growth is slightly behind but will continue to improve. He wants her to come back at 2 years for another x-ray to compare and determine how the bone is growing. Worse case is if the bone doesn’t grow as it should by age 3 or 4, then the doctor will take her into surgery and round out the hip socket so she wouldn’t have any future problems.
Thanks for those of you who were praying for Georgia and just keep in her in prayers at times throughout the next year that her hip is continuing to grow.