Slipped capital femoral epiphysis in Ramathibodi Hospital

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis is rare in Asiatic Indonesian-Malays. Seven cases (9 hips) of this condition in Ramathibodi Hospital including five boys (average age, 12.5 years) and two girls (average age, 13 years) were reviewed. Most of the cases (4 out of 7) were acute on chronic and mild slips. No endocrine disorder was observed in all cases. All of the patients had a body weight above the mean of the normal population, four of which were obese. For the treatment, a single screw fixation including one case with cancellous and six cases with cannulated type were used. In the follow-up of average 2.5 years, six cases had satisfactory results. Avascular necrosis occurred in one case with mild and chronic slips in which a cancellous screw was used. It is concluded that obesity is the important factor related to the etiology in this study and probably is the same in other developing countries. The effect of a cancellous screw causing avascular necrosis is still questionable.