Leg

Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

After the head of the thighbone collapses, it may grow again. Your doctor may put on a cast or brace to keep your child's leg in position and use X-rays to chart the new growth. The goal of treatment is for the head of the thighbone to maintain a normal shape while it matures and to keep it covered by the socket. The growth process takes many months.

In some cases, surgery is required. In order to "contain" the head of the thighbone in the rounded surface of the acetabulum (the socket or bone that receives the head of the femur), surgery may be performed to change the alignment of the femur or pelvis.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007