Fixation Failure After Healing of an Adolescent Posterior Wall Acetabular Fracture Without Growth Disturbance: A Case Report.

CASE: An 11-year-old boy sustained a right posterior wall acetabulum fracture treated with open reduction and internal fixation using a 2.7-mm buttress plate that spanned the triradiate cartilage with planned removal at 6 months. The patient was lost to follow-up and returned at age 14 with a normal, pain-free hip. Radiographs showed a healed fracture with no acetabular deformity or growth disturbance; however, his posterior wall plate screws were broken.

CONCLUSION

In skeletally immature patients undergoing acetabulum fixation, retained physeal-spanning fixation constructs may fail secondary to continued pelvic growth rather than cause meaningful growth disturbance, and routine removal may be unnecessary.