title: Epidemiological perspective on prophylactic pinning in patients with unilateral slipped capital femoral epiphysis.
abstract: The purpose of this review was to determine whether the literature supports in situ prophylactic pinning of the hip contralateral to a hip with a slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). Three hundred twenty-five articles on SCFE between 1931 and 1998 were reviewed. Two hundred six studies were used to establish normative data. Patients with a unilateral SCFE were 2,335 times more likely to develop a SCFE in the contralateral hip when compared to children in the general population experiencing an initial SCFE. Because a majority of these sequential SCFEs were detected and treated early, we concluded that close follow-up and not prophylactic pinning was most supported by the literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA.
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Doulens
mesh_terms: D001858:Bone Nails; D002648:Child; D004839:Epiphyses, Slipped / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005270:Femur Head; D006615:Hip / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007870:Leg Length Inequality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000517:prevention & control