1: J Bone Joint Surg Br  2001 Nov;83(8):1119-24 Surgical dislocation of the adult hip a technique with full access to thefemoral head and acetabulum without the risk of avascular necrosis.Ganz R, Gill TJ, Gautier E, Ganz K, Krugel N, Berlemann U.Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Bern, Inselspital, Switzerland.Surgical dislocation of the hip is rarely undertaken. The potential danger tothe vascularity of the femoral head has been emphasised, but there is littleinformation as to how this danger can be avoided. We describe a technique foroperative dislocation of the hip, based on detailed anatomical studies of theblood supply. It combines aspects of approaches which have been reportedpreviously and consists of an anterior dislocation through a posterior approachwith a 'trochanteric flip' osteotomy. The external rotator muscles are notdivided and the medial femoral circumflex artery is protected by the intactobturator externus. We report our experience using this approach in 213 hipsover a period of seven years and include 19 patients who underwent simultaneousintertrochanteric osteotomy. The perfusion of the femoral head was verifiedintraoperatively and, to date, none has subsequently developed avascularnecrosis. There is little morbidity associated with the technique and it allowsthe treatment of a variety of conditions, which may not respond well to othermethods including arthroscopy. Surgical dislocation gives new insight into thepathogenesis of some hip disorders and the possibility of preserving the hipwith techniques such as transplantation of cartilage.PMID: 11764423 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]