Coxa Breva: Its Pathogenesis and a Rationale for Its Management

Forty-four patients (50 hips) with symptomatic coxa breva underwent surgical treatment consisting of arrest and/or transfer of the “overgrown” greater trochanter. In a retrospective review, the authors compared the patients who underwent apophyseodesis to those treated by trochanteric transfer. The purpose was to clarify the indications for and results of each procedure.Patients ≤8 years of age benefited from apophyseodesis as a means of averting a Trendelenburg gait. Those patients presenting with an established Trendelenburg limp and those ≥9 years of age are best treated by distal and lateral transfer of the greater trochanter.