Osteophyte on Femoral Head Resulting in Locking of Hip Joint.

We report two patieuts with osteophytes on the femoral head resulting in the locking of the hip joint, for which surgical resection of the osteophytes resulted in resolution of symptoms. In case 1, examination of the femoral head before Chiari pelvic osteotomy revealed sharp osteophytes on the anterior, medial, and inferior surfaces of the femoral head, all of which were subsequently resected. For case 2, locking occurring after Chiari pelvic osteotomy was resolved by surgically dislocating the hip joint using the Ganz's trochanter frip approach, and resetting the osteophytes.Incarceration of the limbus was previously considered to be the most common cause of hip joint locking. However osteophytes on the femoral head, as seen in our patients, should also be considered as a possible cause of locking when magnetic resonance imaging and arthroscopy fail to identify a cause.