Medical Disclaimer
The information on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
🚨Emergency? If you have severe symptoms, difficulty breathing, or think it's an emergency, call 000 immediately.
Hip Ball Fracture (Femoral Head Fracture)
Femoral head fractures are rare but serious breaks in the ball of your hip joint, almost always from high-energy trauma such as car accidents (dashboard injury when knee hits dashboard driving hip ball backward out of socket) or falls from height—typically occurring together with hip dislocation causing severe pain and inability to move the leg. These injuries require emergency treatment to relocate the hip within 6 hours, usually followed by surgery to fix broken bone fragments, but despite treatment carry high risks of complications including hip bone dying from loss of blood supply (20-30% develop avascular necrosis) and arthritis (40-50%), with many patients eventually needing hip replacement within 5-10 years.
📖What is Hip Ball Fracture (Femoral Head Fracture)?
Femoral head fractures are rare but serious breaks in the ball of your hip joint, almost always from high-energy trauma such as car accidents (dashboard injury when knee hits dashboard driving hip ball backward out of socket) or falls from height—typically occurring together with hip dislocation causing severe pain and inability to move the leg. These injuries require emergency treatment to relocate the hip within 6 hours, usually followed by surgery to fix broken bone fragments, but despite treatment carry high risks of complications including hip bone dying from loss of blood supply (20-30% develop avascular necrosis) and arthritis (40-50%), with many patients eventually needing hip replacement within 5-10 years.
🔬What Causes It?
- Dashboard injury in motor vehicle accident (knee hits dashboard forcing hip backward)
- Fall from significant height landing on bent knee
- High-energy trauma forcing hip out of socket (posterior hip dislocation)
- Rarely, direct blow to hip region in severe accidents
⚠️Risk Factors
You may be at higher risk if:
- Motor vehicle accidents (most common cause)
- High-risk occupations (construction, working at heights)
- Motorcycle accidents
- High-impact sports accidents
🛡️Prevention
- ✓Wear seatbelt in vehicles (reduces dashboard injuries)
- ✓Follow workplace safety protocols when working at heights
- ✓Wear appropriate protective equipment in high-risk sports
- ✓Drive safely and avoid high-risk driving behaviors