Malunion of femoral head fractures treated by partial ostectomy: three case reports

Malunion of femoral head fractures has been rarely reported. We report on three cases of malunion of the femoral head, which were treated by partial ostectomy. All patients were involved in traffic accidents and had a posterior fracture-dislocation of the hip. The types of femoral head fractures were Pipkin type I with inferomedial fracture fragment in all cases. Initially, they were treated by closed reduction and skeletal traction for between 6 and 8 weeks. The patients were then transferred to our hospital; the chief complaint was of limited hip motion. A protruding bony mass limiting the hip motion was resected in all cases. The Smith-Petersen approach was used in all cases. The malunion sites were located distally to the original fracture site in all cases. Full weight bearing was permitted, and a range of motion exercises was started postoperatively. Excellent results were obtained with almost complete restoration of hip motion without pain. In the follow-up radiographs, there were no cases of avascular necrosis.