[Hip pain as only symptom of extensive phlebothrombosis]

We report a case of a 17 year old girl that had 10 years ago a Perthes disease involving her left hip, but complained now of pain and limitation of movement in her left hip. She was febrile and had a blood sedimentation rate of 102/138. Aspiration of her hip was negative. She was a non smoker and was not on oral contraceptive. The left hip showed a painful flexion contracture of 40 degrees. Phlebography revealed thrombosis of her left femoral vein, the common iliac veins and the inferior vena cava. Because of the serious life threatening nature of the condition we feel that it should enter into the differential diagnosis of all orthopaedic surgeons encountering cases with similar presentation in the future.