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The floating hip injury: patterns of injury
M Liebergall1, R Mosheiff, O Safran
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical School, Hadassah University Hospital, PO Box 12000, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. iril@netvision.net.il
Objective:
To evaluate the relationship between mechanism of injury, type of femoral fracture and type of acetabular fracture in floating hip injury.
Design:
Historical retrospective.
Patients:
Twenty consecutive patients who sustained a floating hip injury, i.e. simultaneous ipsilateral fracture of the acetabulum and the femur.
Intervention:
Statistical analysis of the correlation between the mechanism of injury and fracture type.
Results:
Two main patterns of floating hip injury were observed. The first is the posterior type, which occurs due to a longitudinal force along the femur that causes first, a posterior type fracture of the acetabulum and thereafter, a midshaft femoral fracture. The second pattern is the central type, caused by a lateral blow to the greater trochanter, which then causes a central fracture-dislocation of the acetabulum and a proximal fracture of the femur.
Conclusions:
This observation explains the biomechanical nature of this injury and has treatment related implications.