Traumatic hip dislocation in athletes

Sports injuries are increasingly prevalent. Dislocations of the hip are rare; however, they are seen in high-velocity sports such as football and rugby. The injuries may be described as anterior or posterior, and classified according to severity of injury. It is critical to the sports medicine practitioner to promptly recognize and manage this complex injury. This article presents a functional management algorithm including reduction techniques for the simple hip dislocation. Early reduction minimizes complications in all studies. Immediate on-field reduction has been performed successfully and safely in a limited number of cases. An aggressive rehabilitation protocol is proposed to assist the athlete back to sporting activity as soon as possible. The potential benefits of early reduction limit the risk of avascular necrosis of the femoral head and sciatic neuropathy; therefore, further investigation into the standard use of this immediate reduction technique is warranted.