Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (also referred to as Perthes) is a condition affecting the hip in some young children. Boys and girls can both have Perthes but boys outnumber girls by five to one. Whites are affected 10 times more often than Blacks.

Perthes affects the top of the thighbone called the femoral head. That's where a growth plate called the capital femoral epiphysis (CFE) is located in children. The growth plate is made of a special type of cartilage that allows the bone to lengthen as we grow.

In this condition the blood supply to the CFE is disturbed, causing the bone in this area to die. The femoral head flattens and collapses. The hip can dislocate leading to other problems. Cheilectomy is the removal of part or all of the femoral head.

Cheilectomy isn't a common way to treat Perthes. A report of five cases from Korea confirmed it offers short-term relief of painful limping but doesn't prevent problems later in adulthood.

With the top of the bone removed, one leg is shorter than the other. Limping developed even when wearing a shoe lift. All five patients in the study developed painful hip osteoarthritis (OA) by the time they were 30 years old. The authors concluded cheilectomy doesn't help prevent OA in patients with Perthes.