WHATS INVOLVED WITH A HIP FRACTURE AND DISLOCATION?
The hip is a ball-and-socket joint, with the round head of the thighbone (femur) fitting inside a cup-shaped socket (acetabulum) in the hip bone (pelvis). The socket is relatively shallow, which allows the hip to move in all directions, but it takes considerable support from the muscles and ligaments to keep the joint in place. It requires substantial force to pop the thighbone out of its socket and dislocate it. In most hip dislocations, the head of the thighbone is pushed out and back (posterior dislocation). This leaves the hip in a fixed position, bent and twisted in toward the middle of the body. If the thighbone slips out and forward (anterior dislocation), the hip will be only slightly bent, and the leg will twist out and away from the middle of the body. The force required to dislocate a hip also means that someone with this injury will often have other injuries, including fractures in the pelvis and legs, back injuries, or head injuries. In Thomas’ case, he also sustained a fr
