Question
Hello my name is Matt and I recently suffered a garden two femoral neck
fracture.  I had the break pinned and am at home recovering, I have about
three weeks left on crutches and have had no pain or discomfort since
surgery.  What worries me is the fact that I am only 24 years old.  My surgeon
told me he thought I had a 5chance of developing AVN since the break was
not displaced and my Orthopedist claims I have about a 5-10chance
because I am young, healthy, and the break was not displaced.  What I am
wondering however is after I suffered the break I went had a friend drive me
back to my house (it was late evening) where I tried to put weight on the leg
and even stayed the night in my house.  During the evening as I tried to sleep
I rolled around in bed and again in the morning I attempted to put weight on
the leg.  I know it sounds dumb because there is nothing I can do about it
now, but through doing this did I increase my risk greatly of damaging the
blood supply in the femoral neck, and if so, how severely would you say?  
Further, is a better indicator for my risk simply that the fracture was not
displaced vs. the possibility of incurring more damage in the 10  hours I
spent before being driven to the ER?  I am just really worried right now that I
may have to get a hip replacement at such a young age as I don't want to be
debilitated in my late middle age.  I'd appreciate a response whenever you get
a second, thank you!

- Matt

Answer
Hi Matt

First of all, relax.  Even if the worst case scenario happens and you have to get a hip replacement down the road, I can assure you that you won't be debilated.  I am 50 years old, I had my first of four hip replacements at 16 years old, and 4 revisions every ten years or so after that.  I can assure you that I lead a pretty normal life.  I went to college, grad school, got a job, got married, and had two children.  There are things I can't do, such as contact sports, and pounding exercises, but on all accounts, I look normal have a relatively normal life.

Secondly, no one knows what will happen.  If you are asking me if you did damage on your leg by putting weight on it, I can't answer that.  I don't think that has any bearing on your developing AVN.  AVN is when the oxygen and blood no longer surround and go through the bone, and the weight bearing that you did probably didn't do anything, as long as you are following your surgeon's directions you should be OK.  You shouldn't let thinking about AVN rule you either.  

Bone replacements are pretty common place now and many, many people get them due to arthritic conditions as they get older.  Go on with your healing, and don't even think about the AVN.  If it does happen, then you can worry about it when the time comes.  For now, just concentrate on healing.

Sharon Davis