Delayed Diagnosis Leads to Avascular Necrosis in 10-Year-Old Girl

A 10-year-old girl fell off of a hoverboard and went to her primary care physician with complaints of right leg pain. She continued to complain of pain to her right leg and hip, but her primary care providers did no x-ray or imaging of her right hip until almost six weeks after her initial injury. By the time she was referred to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, she had developed severe avascular necrosis to her right hip joint and had a slipped capital femoral epiphysis that had gone untreated.
She required a hip revision, and her treating orthopedic surgeon provided a narrative report to WKW opining that she will require anywhere from four to seven more hip replacements over the course of her life. WKW took the deposition of the healthcare providers and received a unanimous 3-0 Medical Review Panel opinion in the plaintiff’s favor. Kent Winingham resolved the case for access to the Patient’s Compensation Fund.

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