TraumaSevere trauma or injury can result in fracture of the femoral head, neck or acetabulum. Intra-articular fractures can be particulary serious as the joint surfaces are disrupted. If the fracture heals with some resulting displacement then this irregularity of the joint surface may result in fairly rapid degenerative changes. Alternatively, the blood supply to the femoral head may be disrupted (Avascular Necrosis or AVN) in which case the femoral head may collapse causing pain and secondary arthritis. Sometimes chronic or repetitive trauma, for example in a professional athlete or sportsman may result in articular cartilage damage and arthritis A chronic or repetitive injury could be caused by a professional athlete such as a footballer sustaining a lot of smaller injuries. The net effect is to disturb or disrupt or damage the cartilage of the joint. X-ray showing damage to the femoral head after trauma (a femoral neck fracture which has not healed)
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