My grandson was having a lot of hip pain and when he went to the doctor, the doctor told him he had stable SCFE – a hip dislocation but that he had done that several months ago. He’s only 12 years old! How is that possible when he never even hurt himself?

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis – or SCFE – is a hip dislocation that can occur without any trauma to the hip. It happens more often to boys than to girls and most often to children who are overweight. The most common age for this to happen is between the ages of 11 to 16 years old. There are two types: stable and unstable. Stable is the most common kind, affecting about 90 percent of children who have the dislocation. A child who has stable slipped capital femoral epiphysis can usually still walk, but may need crutches. This is the type that occurs without an accident to the hip. The other 10 percent, the children with unstable dislocation are unable to walk at all, even with crutches.

Surgery is done and the hip is fixed by implanting a screw to stabilize it. After the healing part, four to six weeks on average, the children are usually able to slowly go back to their regular activities.