Chondrolysis following slipped capital femoral epiphysis

Medical records and radiographs of 17 known cases of slipped capital femoral epiphysis, treated with in-situ pin fixation and complicated by chondrolysis were reviewed. Fourteen of these 17 hips that developed chondrolysis had definite evidence of pin penetration of the femoral head. One hip had intra-articular pin penetration of the femoral neck. In the remaining two hips, the pins were placed within the anterolateral quadrant of the femoral head and within 2 mm of the articular surface. Overall, this is an 88% incidence of definite intra-articular pin penetration on postoperative radiographs, and a 100% rate if the two probable cases are included. This suggests a correlation between pin penetration and the development of chondrolysis following slipped capital femoral epiphysis.