Epidemiological Study of Floating Hip Injuries in Assiut University Hospitals

Floating hip injuries are defined as ipsilateral fractures of the pelvis, acetabulum and femur . The term "floating" is used in orthopedic literature to describe certain patterns of skeletal injuries that share one common character which is disruption and discontinuity of bones above and below a joint. This type of injury is very rare and occurs due to high-energy trauma most commonly road traffic accidents and falls from height. Patients of the floating hip injuries are usually poly-trauma patients with other associated potentially serious injuries in the head , chest or abdomen or fractures in other sites. Complication rates are high in these patients due to the severe and unstable nature of this injury. The femoral fracture may be associated with pelvic, acetabular fracture or both, this pattern was classified by Liebergall et al into 3 types; A, B and C with type A involving pelvic fracture associated with an ipsilateral femoral fracture and type B involving an acetabular fracture associated with an ipsilateral femoral fracture and type C involving fractures to both the pelvis and acetabulum. The lack of common terminology , probably because of their rarity and relative low incidence of associated vascular injuries , could have been the reason for the underappreciation of the peculiarity of these injuries. Previous studies have been limited in number without deep analysis of the current practice patters and incidence of complications.