Discussionboard/do/message?action=c reate&do=create&requestType =thread&course_id=_25 45-Year-Old Female with Dislocated Hip
In the previous chapter, you met Kayla Tanner, a 45-year-old mother of four who suffered a dislocated
right hip in a car accident. Prior to the closed reduction, the doctors noted that her right thigh was
flexed at the hip, adducted, and medially rotated. A widened joint space in the postreduction Xray
showed that the reduction was not complete, but no bone fragments were visible in the joint space.
Mrs. Tanner was scheduled for immediate surgery.
The surgeons discovered that the acetabular labrum had detached from the rim of the acetabulum and
was lying deep within the joint space. The detached portion of the labrum was excised, and the hip
was surgically reduced. During the early healing phase (first two weeks), Mrs. Tanner was kept in
traction with the thigh abducted.
1. How would you structurally and functionally classify the joint involved in the injury in this case?
2. In the previous case study, you found out that Mrs. Tanner had previously suffered two
dislocations of her shoulder. Create a table to compare the following aspects of shoulder and
hip joints: (a) What bony structures articulate to form the joints? (b) What is the name of the
labrum? (c) Is the articular capsule loose or tight? (d) What ligaments reinforce the joint?
3. There were no bone fragments in the joint space. What is normally found in this space?
4. Surgeons had to remove part of Mrs. Tanner's acetabular labrum. What is this structure and
what is its function?
5. Mrs. Tanner's thigh was flexed at the hip, adducted, and medially rotated. Describe what this
means in terms of the position of her leg using layperson's terms.
6. Hip dislocations are classified as anterior or posterior depending on which direction the head of
the femur is facing after it dislocates. Based on the description from question 5, which type of
dislocation did Mrs. Tanner suffer?