Slipped Upper Femoral Epiphysis in Adolescents: Evolving Information on Its Mode of Presentation and Management

Background and objective Slipped upper femoral epiphysis (SUFE) is one of the most common hip pathologies in adolescents and pre-adolescents, the diagnosis of which is often missed due to delayed presentations. In this study, we aimed to conduct a retrospective analysis of SUFE cases treated in the hospital during the 15-year period from 2003 to 2018 and examine its bilateral presentation and the need for prophylactic pinning on the unaffected side. Methods This retrospective cohort study involved cases that were treated from 2003 to 2018. The case details were retrieved from the medical records department. Records older than 15 years were excluded owing to their inaccuracy, and 26 cases of SUFE were included in the final analysis. Each case was subjected to physical and radiological examinations of the symptomatic and asymptomatic hips. IBM SPSS Statistics v23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) was used for data analysis. Results In this study, six of the 26 patients had bilateral SUFE and required subsequent surgical pinning. The duration of surgical interventions ranged from two to 22 months, while the mean intervention duration was 10.3 months. Among the cases, 61.5% (p<0.05) were idiopathic in nature upon documentation. However, 19% (p<0.05) of the cases were shown to be associated with an underlying condition or prior symptoms of the condition, whereas 7.6% (p<0.05) had an increased basal metabolic index; 11% (p<0.05) of the cases had an inherited family history of SUFE. A comparison between males and females showed a slightly higher frequency of complications in males (n=14) than in females (n=12) (p=0.556). The age of the patients at the presentation ranged between and 10-15 years, with an average age of 12.5 years. Conclusion Based on our findings, males were affected more than females and most of the cases were idiopathic. There is no significant evidence to support the need for prophylactic pinning of the unaffected hip. We recommend prospective studies with a larger sample of patients to gain more insight into the topic.