Electrocuted Hip: Late Consequences of Electrical Shock Injuries of Orthopaedic Relevance: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

ABSTRACT

CASE A 43-year-old man suffered household electric shock from 220 V alternating current when he accidently touched a live wire with his left hand. Subsequently, he was diagnosed to have osteonecrosis of the left femoral head and underwent total hip arthroplasty. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the electric current could have thrombosed the terminal subsynovial vessels of the femoral head, leading to osteonecrosis. To the best of authors' knowledge, only 2 cases of osteonecrosis of the hip after electric shock have been reported in the literature. A literature review of the delayed consequences of electric shock injuries pertaining to orthopaedics is also presented.