Bilateral femoral neck fractures resulting from a grand mal seizure in an elderly man with Down syndrome

Abstract

Simultaneous bilateral hip fractures are exceedingly rare and usually occur following a seizure. To our knowledge, only 22 cases of such injuries have been reported in the literature during the past forty years and the majority of fractures are treated with open reduction and internal fixation. We present a case of a 66-year old man with Down syndrome and severe dementia who was diagnosed with bilateral displaced femoral neck fractures following an epileptic seizure. He was treated with single staged bilateral uncemented monopolar hemi-arthroplasties through lateral Hardinge approaches. The treatment choice was governed by fracture displacement, the lack of pre-existing osteoarthritis, length of time to diagnosis, the patient’s age, ambulatory status and mental impairment, with the intention to minimize post-operative complications such as avascular necrosis, non-union and hip dislocation.