Open anterior hip dislocation in a young adult with exposed femoral head and no neurovascular damage

Abstract

Anterior hip dislocation is common in younger adults and is the result of severe, high energy trauma such as high-velocity motor vehicle accidents or falls from great heights. A similar mechanism of injury would cause a femur neck fracture in older patients. Of these, open anterior hip dislocations are extremely rare and are usually associated with other soft tissue and bony injuries. We report a case of an open anterior hip dislocation with normal neurovascular status in a third world setting.

Keywords

• trauma
• open anterior
• dislocation
• hip
• femoral head
• osteonecrosis