Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 6, 2021; 9(4): 898-903
Published online Feb 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i4.898
Open reduction and Herbert screw fixation of Pipkin type IV femoral head fracture in an adolescent: A case report
Yao Liu, Jin Dai, Xiao-Dong Wang, Zhi-Xiong Guo, Lun-Qing Zhu, Yun-Fang Zhen
Yao Liu, Jin Dai, Xiao-Dong Wang, Zhi-Xiong Guo, Lun-Qing Zhu, Yun-Fang Zhen, Department of Orthopaedics, Children’s Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Liu Y was the primary care of this case and responsible for the original draft; Dai J and Wang XD were the patient’s orthopedists, reviewed the literature and provided comments to the original draft; Dai J was the main operator for this surgery, and Liu Y and Guo ZX were the assistants to him; Zhu LQ was responsible for follow-ups after discharge; Wang XD and Zhen YF were supervisors and responsible for important intellectual content; Informed consent was collected by Dai J; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: We have obtained the informed consent statement from the patient.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jin Dai, MD, Doctor, Instructor, Surgeon, Department of Orthopaedics, Children’s Hospital of Soochow University, No. 92 Zhongnan Street, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China. daijin151@126.com
Received: October 12, 2020
Peer-review started: October 12, 2020
First decision: November 8, 2020
Revised: November 17, 2020
Accepted: December 16, 2020
Article in press: December 16, 2020
Published online: February 6, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Femoral head fracture is extremely rare in children. This may be the youngest patient with femoral head fracture ever reported in the literature. There are few pediatric studies that focus on cases treated with open reduction via the modified Hardinge approach.

CASE SUMMARY

A 14-year-old female adolescent suffered a serious traffic accident when she was sitting on the back seat of a motorcycle. A pelvic radiograph and computed tomography revealed a proximal femoral fracture and slight acetabular rim fracture. This was diagnosed as a Pipkin type IV femoral head fracture. An open reduction and Herbert screw fixation was performed via a modified Hardinge approach. After 1-year follow-up, the patient could walk without aid and participate in physical activities. The X-ray results showed that the fractures healed well with no evidence of complications.

CONCLUSION

Open reduction and Herbert screw fixation is an available therapy to treat Pipkin type IV femoral head fractures in children.

Keywords: Pipkin classification, Femoral head fracture, Adolescent, Fracture fixation, Case report

Core Tip: Femoral head fractures are extremely rare in children. We have reported an adolescent with a Pipkin type IV fracture treated with open reduction and screw fixation. Excellent clinical function and radiographic fracture healing were observed after 1 year.