Aims

This study analysed the clinical and radiological outcome of anatomical reduction of a moderate or severe stable slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) treated by subcapital osteotomy (a modified Dunn osteotomy) through the surgical approach described by Ganz.

1. Seventeen children with fracture-separations of the capitular epiphysis are reviewed.

2. Soft-tissue suture was used in eleven and metallic fixation in six children.

3. There was one bad result because of faulty technique but all the other children obtained good results.

4. Soft-tissue suture was found to be a simple procedure with none of the complications of wire fixation.

1. By questionnaire, an attempt has been made to ascertain the characteristics of a hundred cases of slipping of the upper femoral epiphysis.

2. The principal object has been to see whether an etiological classification would be possible pending an assessment of the results of treatment.

3. Proper statistical analysis has proved impossible because of the incompleteness of the data.

4. As usual, boys predominated and were usually affected as much as three years older than the girls.

5. It was exceptional to find epiphysial slipping in a girl once she had begun to menstruate.

6. Nearly a quarter of the cases were bilateral, or became so after six to twenty-four months or more.

7. Little information came from an enquiry about dietary fads, the estimation of urinary ketosteroid excretion in twenty-three of the patients, or some minor pathological investigations.

8. No convincing evidence was found of skeletal retardation or of general thickening of epiphysial discs, such as might perhaps be expected in a hormonal disturbance characterised by defective epiphysial maturation.

9. From each child with the necessary data, indices of height, weight and build were ascertained, which would indicate his expectation of finding a place among a hundred physically normal children of his own sex and age, and, if so, where that place would be. From these studies four groups of children seemed to emerge: I) what may be called abnormally heavy children who would not find a place among a hundred, or somestimes a thousand, physically "normal" children of their own age and sex; 2) unusually heavy children who would find a place in the heaviest minority of the normal hundred; 3) a very small group of abnormally small people, among whom might be expected the subjects of pituitary infantilism; and 4) a large group of children of average physique for their sex and age.

10. From this information and from clinical evidence in the case returns, it appeared that a quarter of the assessable boys and nearly two-thirds of the assessable girls showed evidence of endocrine defect, quite apart from those who were merely unusually fat.

11. By distinguishing these two groups of children from a third group of constitutionally "normal," an attempt has been made to see whether there is any correlation between evident endocrine defect and such characteristics as bilateral affection, delayed epiphysial maturation, a history of relevant injury and its nature, and sudden or gradual epiphysial slipping.

12. No relationship was established between any of these characteristics and endocrine type: bilateral affection was no commoner in the endocrine group; delayed maturation was not demonstrated in either; a history of relevant injury was equally common, and its nature identical, in both; slipping might be sudden or gradual in either indiscriminately.

13. There was a history of seemingly relevant injury in half the patients, and it was much commoner with sudden slipping than with gradual slipping. Sudden slipping was often preceded by symptoms of gradual slipping, or sudden slipping of one epiphysis was sometimes followed by gradual slipping of the other.

14. In gradual slipping the cardinal symptoms were pain and limp, usually starting synchronously and gradually; the pain was usually intermittent and referred much more often to the hip than the knee; the limp was usually continuous.

15. Of signs, demonstrable wasting seemed to be absent as often as present, but shortening was usual. Lateral rotation deformity was usually present, adduction often, and flexion sometimes. In more than a third of the cases limitation of movement was slight enough to be easily missed.

16. The radiographic observations confirmed the seeming widening at the affected epiphysial disc, the greater displacement revealed by the lateral view, and the difficulty of identifying avascular necrosis before collapse.

17. Treatment was delayed in thirty-four cases—a third of the whole; the reasons have been analysed; diagnostic failure was the cause in nineteen.

18. A few cases outside the series have been mentioned briefly because of special points of interest: slipping in gross pituitary disease—in pituitary giantism, and(at the age of thirty-three) in pituitary hypogonadism; slipping with defect of the opposite lower limb—infantile paralysis of the leg, and Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease of the hip; familial affection—slipping in two brothers.

19. The results of treatment in the present cases, supplemented by others, have been studied by Dr John Hall and related to some of the clinical features. His paper appears separately.

Five cases of fracture-separation of the proximal epiphysis of the humerus are recorded. A method of reduction and immobilisation is described, and the literature is reviewed.

1. During the past twenty-five years there have been admitted to this orthopaedic service twelve children or adolescents having a close relative who previously or subsequently developed slipped upper femoral epiphysis. This represents an incidence of approximately 7 per cent.

2. There is some evidence that the incidence is considerably higher.

3. In addition to those with close relations also with slipped epiphysis, two patients had parents with osteoarthritis of the hip.

4. I believe, therefore, that in slipped upper femoral epiphysis there is evidence of a genetic defect. This is probably due to a recessive gene of low penetrance. The frequency in this region is high because the north-east of Scotland has very definite geographical boundaries and the rural, agricultural population, from which the majority of these cases were drawn, has formed until recently a stable community likely to show a greater than average incidence.

1 . This case of post-traumatic osteochondritis of the lower tibial epiphysis is important because the condition is rare.

2. The similarity to osteochondritis in other sites dating from a single injury is noted.

3. The ankle joint bears more body weight per surface area of articular cartilage than other weight-bearing joint surfaces. It is of interest that regeneration took place in spite of the fact that the child continued to bear weight and that the joint was immobilised for only two months, beginning four months after the original injury.

Calcified matrix that is being absorbed has a characteristic appearance. At the junction of the epiphysis and metaphysis in the rat tibia this appearance can be seen near capillary endothelium as well as under osteoclasts. It is concluded that absorption can take place under the walls of capillaries without the presence of osteoclasts.

Simple pinning to fix the epiphysis in those patients in whom the position is acceptable is a valuable surgical procedure. It is safe and gives good results. It eliminates the danger of further displacement, promotes fusion of the epiphysial plate and allows the patient to return to full activity within one month, thus avoiding joint stiffness, muscle atrophy, osteoporosis and interference with growth at other sites.

Fixation by small pins is preferable to the use of the trifin nail, the latter giving excessive trauma and predisposing to subtrochanteric fracture. Gentle replacement of the epiphysis, when loose, into an acceptable position is a valuable method of treatment. It is essential that replacement is not undertaken by force.

The problem of major displacement of the epiphysis which cannot be so replaced is unsolved. Conservative treatment in this group is useless and harmful. Intra-articular osteotomy can give good results in most cases but is risky and may cause stiffening of the hip. Subtrochanteric osteotomy does not give a good anatomical result but in most cases the function of the hip is satisfactory.

Slipping of the upper femoral epiphysis, however slight, should be regarded as a surgical emergency.

1. Epiphysial tilt commonly precedes slipping.

2. This tilt is due to a diminished or arrested growth from compression of the back of the epiphysial plate.

3. The stresses on the upper end of the femur are such that the upper femoral epiphysial plate is peculiarly liable to compression.

4. A primary abnormality of the cartilage of the epiphysial plate renders it susceptible to the effect of compression.

5. Because this abnormality is diffuse, deformities due to a similar pathology may be found elsewhere, notably in the spine.

1. A series of eighty-one hips with slipped upper femoral epiphysis in sixty-three patients is reviewed.

2. The importance of early diagnosis is emphasised.

3. Conservative treatment is condemned.

4. In attempting reduction violent manipulation and strong traction must be avoided.

5. In cases of slight displacement pinning in the position of displacement gives the best results.

6. Three or four small pins are recommended for fixation.

7. When the amount of slip is 50 per cent or more of the diameter of the head gentle manipulation should be tried and, if successful, followed by fixation with three or four pins.

8. The hip with an irreducible slip of 50 per cent or more should be treated by pertrochanteric or subtrochanteric osteotomy.

1. Thirteen cases of non-union of the epiphysis of the lateral condyle of the humerus were studied. Ten followed minor lateral luxations of the epiphysis; three were sequelae of open reduction and soft-tissue suture of major displacements.

2. In three cases in which non-union developed while the patient was under observation, union was secured after bone grafting by a technique described.

1. The results of thirty-five acutely slipped upper femoral epiphyses, treated from 1950 to 1969, are presented. Avascular necrosis of the femoral head occurred in five cases.

2. Skin traction with medial rotation, followed in three to four days by internal fixation, without further manipulation, is recommended so that this iatrogenic complication may be avoided.

This series, albeit consecutive and unselected, is very small; conclusions must therefore be tentative. The results do however suggest that the dangers of late manipulative reduction properly performed may have been exaggerated. Attempted without undue force it proved a harmless procedure, often successful even in cases of long duration. When it succeeds, the results in slips of unacceptable degree are at least as good as those following the more major surgical procedures, which can thus be avoided. Even when the displacement is minor its correction should on theoretical grounds at least decrease the prospects of later osteoarthritis. The only absolute contra-indication is a fused epiphysial plate. The degree of slip and above all the duration of symptoms should not preclude an attempt at manipulative reduction.

1. The mechanism of production of injury to the lateral condyle epiphysis is discussed.

2. A technique of closed reduction of rotational displacements of the epiphysis is described. Nine cases in which the method was successful are noted.

3. It is suggested that the injury should be classified with dislocation of the elbow.

1. An apparatus was designed to determine the shearing strength of the upper tibial epiphysis in the rat. Observations were made with this instrumenton normal animals, on animals receiving growth-hormone, and on animals receiving oestrogen.

2. When the epiphysis separates from the diaphysis, the plane of cleavage is constant, passing through the third layer of the epiphysial plate.

3. Growth-hormone decreases and sex-hormone increases the shearing strength of the epiphysial plate. These changes are due to alterations produced by these two hormones in the thickness of the third layer of the epiphysial plate.

4. It is suggested that these findings may be of significance in providing an anatomical basis for slipping of the upper femoral epiphysis in man, especially when it is associated with the adiposo-genital syndrome or with rapid adolescent growth.

Several authors have reported complications from screw removal after treatment of slipped upper femoral epiphysis by single screw fixation, and have attributed these to poor screw design. We have developed a simple and reliable method of screw removal which uses a cannulated 8.0 mm end-threaded cancellous screw (Smith & Nephew Richards Medical, Memphis, Tennessee) and a specially designed cannulated trephine.

The method has been successful, with minimal complications, and a limited surgical exposure.