[Traumatic hip dislocation in childhood]

Abstract

The article reports on eight cases of traumatic dislocation of the hip in children. Six of these were genuine dislocations and two dislocation fractures. The children were between 5 and 13 years of age at the time of injury. Seven of these 8 children could be followed up one to 21 years after the accident. All 7 children were free from complaints at the time of follow-up examination; in one case only we found a moderate loss of function in the injured hip joint. In this patient the x-ray film showed deformation of the head of the femur after partial necrosis of the femoral head, as well as initial signs of coxarthrosis. Prognosis of this rare injury in children is favourable if repositioning is performed in time and if relief of the hip is effected for the proper period of time, depending on the individual case.