Paediatric Hip Fracture - Dislocation: a case report.

Abstract

We present a case of posterior fracture- dislocation of the left hip in a 6 year old child who was a passenger of a car that was involved in vehicular accident. The child presented with painful left hip and widening of the medial joint space on radiograph of the hip. The possibility of a spontaneous
reduction in a traumatic hip dislocation adds to the diagnostic confusion. In this patient, a loose osteochondral fragment was visible on CT-scan, there was an obvious increase in the medial joint space. Open reduction of the hip was done via a posterior approach, the hip joint was explored and the loose fragment fixed using polydioxanone(PDS) screws and anchor sutures. A stable concentric reduction was obtained and maintained post operatively using a hip spica. At follow up 6 months later, the hip was noted to be painless with full range of motion. A repeat MRI at 7 months showed that the previously widened medial joint space is reduced with slight uncovering of the hip.