Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the hip is a relatively rare condition which is usually treated conservatively although there have been a few reports of surgical treatment for this condition.
We report two cases of OCD. Who were treated surgically. OCD developed in the first case as a late complication of congenital dislocation of the hip, and in the second, following Perthes disease.
In the first case, a 15 year-old female, a small fragment was observed at the lateral part of the femoral head away from the weight bearing area and was excised leaving a defect of the cortical margin. In the second case, a 32 year-old female, two segmented large fragments were seen at the center of the weight bearing area of the femoral head and were fixed onto underlying bone with several cortical bone pegs.
Radiologically, the cortical defect of the femoral head had remodelled to a smooth contour 12 years after excision and the fixed large fragments had established complete bone union 2 years post-operatively.
Clinical results of these surgical treatments showed that not only was there good improvenent in the restricted range of motion of the involved hips but pain was also diminished. The overall good results in these two patients indicates that surgical therapy should be considered in OCD of the hip.
