A vascular necrosis following traumatic hip dislocation in childhood: factors of influence

An evaluation was made of the factors possibly influencing the incidence of vascular necrosis in a collected series of 412 traumatic hip dislocations in children. This series consisted of 145 cases with necrosis, and 267 dislocations in which this complication had not developed after a follow-up period of 2 years or more. The age of the patient, the severity of the injury, the type of dislocation and the interval before reduction proved to be influencing factors. The reduction procedure appeared to play a similar role, but this could not be definitely assessed. The post-reduction immobilization and the interval before weight-bearing had no influence. Therapeutic principles are indicated.