Pinning the unaffected side prophylactically is not recommended for most patients, but may be appropriate if a second SCFE is very likely.Once SCFE is suspected, the patient should be non-weight bearing and remain on strict bed rest. In severe cases, after enough rest the patient may require physical therapy to regain strength and movement back to the leg. A SCFE is an orthopaedic emergency, as further slippage may result in occlusion of the blood supply and avascular necrosis (risk of 25 percent). Almost all cases require surgery, which usually involves the placement of one or two pins into the femoral head to prevent further slippage. The recommended screw placement is in the center of the epiphysis and perpendicular to the physis. Chances of a slippage occurring in the other hip are 20 percent within 18 months of diagnosis of the first slippage and consequently the opposite unaffected femur may also require pinning.The risk of reducing this fracture includes the disruption of the blood supply to the bone. It has been shown in the past that attempts to correct the slippage by moving the head back into its correct position can cause the bone to die. Therefore the head of the femur is usually pinned as is. A small incision is made in the outer side of the upper thigh and metal pins are placed through the femoral neck and into the head of the femur. A dressing covers the wound. Epidemiology
SCFE affects approximately 1–10 per 100,000 children.
This study identified that obese children had an almost twenty times greater risk than thin children, with a dose-response- so the greater the weight of the child, the greater the risk of SCFE. In 65 percent of cases of SCFE, the person is over the 95th percentile for weight. Endocrine diseases may also contribute (though are far less of a risk than obesity), such as hypothyroidism, hypopituitarism, and renal osteodystrophy.Sometimes no single cause accounts for SCFE, and several factors play a role in the development of a SCFE i.e. both mechanical and endocrine (hormone-related) factors. Skeletal changes may also make someone at risk of SCFE, including femoral or acetabular retroversion, those these may simply be chronic skeletal manifestations of childhood obesity. Pathophysiology
SCFE is a Salter-Harris type 1 fracture through the proximal femoral physis. Stress around the hip causes a shear force to be applied at the growth plate. While trauma has a role in the manifestation of the fracture, an intrinsic weakness in the physeal cartilage also is present. The almost exclusive incidence of SCFE during the adolescent growth spurt indicates a hormonal role. Obesity is another key predisposing factor in the development of SCFE.The fracture occurs at the hypertrophic zone of the physeal cartilage. Stress on the hip causes the epiphysis to move posteriorly and medially. By convention, position and alignment in SCFE is described by referring to the relationship of the proximal fragment (capital femoral epiphysis) to the normal distal fragment (femoral neck).