A rare case of open anterior hip dislocation
A 23-year-old male pavement dweller was brought to the emergency department of this hospital after being hit by a tempo. The patient was in a state of shock with an open right-sided anterior hip dislocation with the femoral head being visible in the inguinal region (Fig. ). The neurovascular status of the right lower limb was intact. Immediate resuscitation was done and hip radiographs (Fig. ) were taken, which showed an anterior-inferior dislocation with an inferior pubic ramus fracture on the left side. The patient was immediately transferred to the operating room where the wound was thoroughly debrided and the femoral head was relocated within 5 hours of sustaining the trauma (Fig. ). The wound after surgical debridement was 8 × 6 cm in dimensions, which was primarily closed after checking for the stability of the reduction. The patient was started on intravenous metronidazole, amikacin and ceftriaxone for 5 days, followed by oral amoxicillin for a week. The patient was kept non-weight-bearing on skin traction for 6 weeks. The wound healed satisfactorily with no evidence of infection, nor any episode of re-dislocation at 6 months (Fig. ). The patient was unfortunately lost to follow-up.