A comminuted femoral head fracture without hip dislocation

A case report of a 26-year-old man involved in a high-speed motorcycle crash with a comminuted femoral head and neck fracture without hip dislocation is presented. The computed tomography (CT) scan revealed avulsed bone fragments locked in the acetabular cavity that were not amenable to internal fixation. At surgery the capsule was incarcerated, and large fragments where severely crushed. An hemiarthroplasty replacement was performed, but 10 months later the patient developed an early posttraumatic arthritis leading to an inevitable total arthroplasty. The case presented here demonstrates the importance of early recognition and evaluation by a CT scan of this type of injury from a femoral head fracture.