hip dislocations are mostly due to low velocity injury in children younger than 3 years . a 25 month old child presented to our casualty following a fall from a slide 3 hours prior to presentation . an x - ray of the pelvis was taken which showed a posterior hip dislocation on the right side . the child had an emergency closed reduction under general anaesthesia followed by a broom stick plaster cast with hips in 30 abduction . the child was reviewed at 6 and 18 months with mri scans at 6 and 18 months . paediatric hip dislocation ( less than 3 years of age ) is a very rare entity whose incidence is on the rise due to the increase in road traffic accidents . the key stone in proper management is clinical suspicion , early recognition and promptreduction ( within 6 hours ) . also gentle manipulation during reduction has a definite role in preventing iatrogenic chondrolysis and osteonecrosis of femoral head . the periosteum is thick in children , the bones are soft and elastic and can absorb quite some force because of the soft spongy nature . hence dislocations are rare in paediatric age group . however with the increasing number of motor vehicles plying on our roads and the ever present risk of road traffic accidents , there is a recent change in the above trend . most of the paediatric injuries are the result of low velocity accidents . in case of high velocity injuries there has been case reports of traumatic hip dislocations in childhood mostly in the western world . most of the published articles in literature include the adolescent population ( 12 - 17 years ) . there are very few case reports of such dislocations in children < 3 years . here we present a case report of a child ( age 25 months ) with traumatic posterior dislocation of the hip following low velocity injury . a 25 month old male child presented to our casualty following a slip and fall from a slide while playing in a park . he had severe pain in the right hip and limb was adducted and internally rotated . an emergency radiograph of the pelvis taken in emergency showed a posterior dislocation of his right hip[fig.1 ] . gentle traction with minimal rotation was sufficient to achieve reduction , the congruency of which was checked under image intensifier . once congruency was confirmed , an above knee broom stick plaster was applied to both lower limbs with hips in 30 abduction . check radiographs[fig.2 ] was taken along with a mri[fig.3 ] of the hip to check if there was any traumatic injury to the physes . he was kept on the plaster for 6 weeks following which plaster cast was removed and child mobilized with as tolerated weight bearing . follow - up x - ray was taken at 6 weeks[fig.4 ] and serial mri scans taken at 6 and 18 months [ fig.5 & fig.6 ] showed no chondrolysis or osteonecrosis . he had restriction of flexion of knee beyond 120 at 6 weeks which improved to 140 by 8 weeks . x - ray following closed reduction and plaster application showing concentric reduction . mri taken immediately following closed reduction showing minimal marrow edema in head and neck area . x - ray taken at 6 weeks following removal of plaster cast showing stable hip with no re - dislocation . m r i at 6 months showing normal physeal plate with no avn m r i at 18 months showing normal femoral head anatomy and physes however with the everpresent danger of motor vehicle accidents in our crowded and chaotic roads , this rarity may become more common . in most children however , hip dislocations are mostly due to low velocity accidents which occur during playing . there are a few reports in western literature of hip dislocation in peadiatric population , most of them are case reports . there has been only two case reports of children less than 3 years with hip dislocation . also most of the reports emphasizes the need to do urgent reduction within the golden period ( i.e 6 hours ) . the risk of osteonecrosis in one study was 5.7% in acute cases vs 47.8% in old neglected cases undergoing reduction procedures . the severity of the injury is also an important predictor for the development of osteonecrosis . also important is that during closed reduction , care is to be taken not to perform forceful manipulation as this greatly increases the risk of iatrogenic physeal separation . as is with our case gentle traction with minimal rotation is enough to reduce the joint . the method of immobilization varies with the authors from skin traction to plaster cast application but we found that results with plaster cast are more predictable with better patient cooperation . child abuse is also a possible etiology of hip dislocation in children when a child presents with a doubtful history and injuries in various stages of healing . in our patient , the immediate post - reduction mri showed a small linear posterior labral tear which had healed in subsequent mri scans taken at 6 months in literature there are case reports of traumatic hip dislocations in childhood ( < 3 years ) in the western archives . here we present a case report of a traumatic hip dislocations in a child < 3 years in indian population . paediatrichip dislocations are a medical emergency which requires a great deal of suspicion to detect early and treat appropriately . our patient had excellent recovery and functional outcome because of early reduction within the  golden period  ( 6 hours ) . although he had a labral tear , the soft tissues healed with immobilisation without any further intervention with no permanent disability . we therefore conclude that traumatic hip dislocations in children < 3 years is an uncommon injury but a keen lookout is a must for early diagnosis and treatment . however a high degree of suspicion combined with early and prompt reduction is the keystone in management . this is to ensure a good functional outcome and prevention of complications like osteonecrosis and chondrolysis .