Avascular Necrosis of Left Femoral Head Following Trivial Trauma and the Need for Early Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Trivial Trauma is one of the causes of avascular necrosis of the femoral head. Even trivial trauma can cause loss of blood supply to the femoral head and results in ischemia and aseptic necrosis. A 68 year old male patient came with 2 month history of left hip pain. X-ray pelvis (fig-1) with both hips which was taken immediately after the trauma, showed no significant bony abnormality and patient was managed conservatively with analgesics. Patient had persisting pain for 2 months which increased in severity and patient developed difficulty walking. Therefore a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) L hip (fig-2) was done and which showed avascular necrosis grade III of left femoral head. Total hip replacement was then carried out for the patient and patient improved symptomatically. Earlier MRI imaging following trauma could have resulted in early diagnosis and intervention to prevent progression of the disease and salvage the femoral head.