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Hip Dislocation and Dystocia in Early Medieval Times: Possible Evidence of Labor Maneuver
Assumpció Malgosa1, Susana Carrascal, Giampaolo Piga
1Unitat d'Antropologia Biològica, Department Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and Hospital Universitari del SagratCor, Barcelona, Spain; and Department POLCOMIG, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
Background:
In ancient times, maternal mortality would occur frequently, particularly during labor. Evidence of dystocia resulting in the death of a pregnant woman is very infrequent in paleopathologic literature, with only a few cases being demonstrated.
Case:
In the early medieval site of Casserres, the skeleton of a young woman with a fetus in the pelvic region was found. Some abnormal findings of the maternal skeleton were evaluated, including a sacral anomaly, femoral head wound, the rare position of the lower left limb with the femoral head dislodged anteriorly and cephalad from the socket, and a fibular fracture.
Conclusion:
Examining the anomalies all together, a case of anterior hip dislocation related to a McRoberts-like maneuver performed during labor is a plausible explanation of the findings.
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The functional classification of joints is determined by the amount of mobility between the adjacent bones. Joints are functionally classified as a synarthrosis or immobile joint, an amphiarthrosis or slightly moveable joint, or as a diarthrosis, a freely moveable joint. Fibrous and cartilaginous joints can be functionally classified as either synarthroses or amphiarthroses, whereas all synovial joints are classified as diarthroses.
Synarthrosis
An...