Slipped femoral epiphysis requires prompt treatment

  I just had another case of “slipped femoral epiphysis” today, and it was hard to calm down for a long time.  This is a 12-year-old obese boy who came to me a month and a half ago because of left hip pain and slight limp, and at that time the child’s film and MRI examination already showed a slight slipped femoral epiphysis. I told the child to have surgery immediately, but no matter how much I tried to persuade him, the parents did not hospitalize him for surgery on the grounds that the child was about to take an exam. As a result, when the child came in on crutches this time after the exam, the hip pain was significantly worse and the slipped femoral epiphysis was significantly more severe. The child’s ischemic necrosis of the femoral head was still insisted by the MRI at the local hospital before he came to the hospital.  Parents, you are so confused! Although the surgery went very well, only a hollow nail was used to fix the slipped femoral head in situ percutaneously, and only a 1 cm incision was made in the upper thigh. Although the surgery went very well with only a hollow nail to fix the slipped femoral head in situ percutaneously, with only a 1 cm incision on the upper thigh. What is more serious is that some time ago another lively child had a sudden aggravation of slipped femoral head due to the lack of proper diagnosis and treatment in the local area, and was left with a permanent disability.  Slipped femoral epiphysis is one of the common diseases of the hip joint during adolescence. However, it is very rare among Asians, with an incidence of 1 in 250,000 in Japan. The incidence is high among obese black people, and I first became aware of this disease in the United States. With the improvement of living standards, now more and more obese children in China, the occurrence of the disease in our country also more. However, the vast majority of doctors in primary hospitals in China still lack knowledge of the disease, and it is very easy to cause misdiagnosis.  Therefore, I would like to remind the parents here. If an obese adolescent (10-15 years old) develops hip pain and limp, please remember that there is also a disease called slipped femoral epiphysis. If given timely diagnosis and treatment, the results are still very good.