Epidemiological Study of Floating Hip Injuries in Assiut University Hospitals

Hip Fractures, Hip Injuries

Floating hip, Pelvic fractures, Acetabular fractures, Femur fractures, Trauma

Aim of the study is to describe and study the patterns of floating hip injuries and assess the current management in Assiut University Hospitals Trauma Centre to help reach the best approach to plan treatment for these severe and difficult injuries.

Floating hip injuries are defined as ipsilateral fractures of the pelvis, acetabulum and femur . The term floating is used in orthopedic literature to describe certain patterns of skeletal injuries that share one common character which is disruption and discontinuity of bones above and below a joint. This type of injury is very rare and occurs due to high-energy trauma most commonly road traffic accidents and falls from height. Patients of the floating hip injuries are usually poly-trauma patients with other associated potentially serious injuries in the head , chest or abdomen or fractures in other sites. Complication rates are high in these patients due to the severe and unstable nature of this injury. The femoral fracture may be associated with pelvic, acetabular fracture or both, this pattern was classified by Liebergall et al into 3 types; A, B and C with type A involving pelvic fracture associated with an ipsilateral femoral fracture and type B involving an acetabular fracture associated with an ipsilateral femoral fracture and type C involving fractures to both the pelvis and acetabulum. The lack of common terminology , probably because of their rarity and relative low incidence of associated vascular injuries , could have been the reason for the underappreciation of the peculiarity of these injuries. Previous studies have been limited in number without deep analysis of the current practice patters and incidence of complications.

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