Follow-up study of slipped capital femoral epiphysis.

We studied 50 hips in 46 patients with slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). Seven patients with acute cases were treated by closed reduction with excellent results and without any known complication. The cases in the remaining 39 patients were of the chronic type. The method of treatment was determined according to the posterior tilting angle: in situ pinning for angles less than 30 degrees, intertrochanteric osteotomy for angles between 30 and 60 degrees, and subcapital wedge osteotomy for angles greater than 60 degrees. Chondrolysis was observed in one case treated with intertrochanteric osteotomy, and chondrolysis and avascular necrosis occurred in one case of subcapital wedge osteotomy.