Stress fracture of the femoral neck in young adult: report of four cases.

Stress fracture of the femoral neck is an uncommon injury. If the diagnosis is missed or delayed and fracture displacement results, serious complications such as avascular necrosis of the femoral head, nonunion or varus deformity may occur. Treatment depends on the type of stress fracture. Compression and tension stress fractures can be successfully treated with conservative management or prophylactic internal fixation using multiple screws. Displaced stress fractures are an orthopedic emergency, requiring prompt surgical intervention. Poor outcomes after fracture displacement have been reported by many authors. We present four cases demonstrating three types of stress fracture of the femoral neck. It is hoped that these case reports will serve to increase practitioner awareness of this injury and emphasize the need for careful diagnosis and treatment of this potentially problematic injury.