Postoperative assessment of vascularity of the femoral head after surgical hip dislocation.

Abstract

Treatment for femoroacetabular impingement includes surgical hip dislocation and recontouring the femoral head-neck junction. However, a potential complication of this procedure is avascular necrosis. The purpose of this study was to assess radiographically the vascularity of the femoral head after surgical hip dislocation. Ten patients underwent surgical hip dislocation and recontouring of the femoral head-neck junction for femoroacetabular impingement. Postoperatively, all 10 patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the hip. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed no evidence of osteonecrosis in all patients. This study provides clear radiographic evidence that surgical hip dislocation may be performed without causing avascular necrosis of the femoral head.