The floating hip injury: patterns of injury.

Abstract

To evaluate the relationship between mechanism of injury, type of femoral fracture and type of acetabular fracture in floating hip injury. Historical retrospective. Twenty consecutive patients who sustained a floating hip injury, i.e. simultaneous ipsilateral fracture of the acetabulum and the femur. Statistical analysis of the correlation between the mechanism of injury and fracture type. Two main patterns of floating hip injury were observed. The first is the posterior type, which occurs due to a longitudinal force along the femur that causes first, a posterior type fracture of the acetabulum and thereafter, a midshaft femoral fracture. The second pattern is the central type, caused by a lateral blow to the greater trochanter, which then causes a central fracture-dislocation of the acetabulum and a proximal fracture of the femur. This observation explains the biomechanical nature of this injury and has treatment related implications.