does anyone have experience of slipped capital femoral epiphysis?

[trice]

My dn (12) has been limping for over a month and complaining of pain in her thigh. She finally saw a physiotherapist who referred her for an xray and they have diagnosed slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Which apparently is where the ball comes off the top of your thigh bone.

She will have an operation to pin her bone tomorrow. And will be spending the summer on crutches.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

I don't have experience of this but my son has just been diagnosed with Perthes disease which is where the ball on the top of the femur has died and effectively crumbled away due to an interruption in the blood supply to the ball (femoral head). So whilst I cannot offer advice or direct knowledge of SCFE I can at least empathise as both conditions require the children to severely limit their activities (no running, jumping, no impact movement etc) so as not to cause further damage and deformity, and both conditions can have lasting complications like early arthritis. So I really just wanted to say good luck with her surgery, I hope it goes well and I hope she makes the best recovery she can.

thanks Jelly. I do hope your son gets better soon too, can he have a hip replacement?.

She is most bothered by missing her school trip to flamingo land. Although the surgeon going into great detail about the complications and other horrors in front of her didn't help.

Yes i had this condition too at the age of twelve as well! It started with a pain in my knee. I actually ended up having the operation on both my legs as xrays showed the problem in both legs during my stay in hospital. However i recovered well and havent looked back. My thoughts go out to you as i know this can be a hard time for you and your daughter. The doctors told my parents that if it wasnt diagnosed in time i could have ended up in a wheelchair so at least it can be sorted out properly and that is something to be grateful for.

hi I'm an orthopaedic, intensive care nurse, a slipped epiphysis is not totally uncommon. the good thing is that they have cought it early and have made progressive steps to stop it getting worse, as she is young she should have a good recovery but make sure she does the physo exercises it really helps and prevents future complications.
jellybean I did my thesis on (legg-calve) perthes disease it's truely facinating, It has to be said that boys generally have a better outcome than girls. have they said what degree it is? again no weight-bearing for a while and intensive physiotherapy is the best intervention.

thanks for you replies. she has come through the surgery well and is enjoying the, hopefully short lived, novelty and drama of her wheelchair. All her friends have been keeping her happy.

I have knitted her some crutch covers for next week.