AVN

Question 1

What is AVN?

Answer 1

Avascular necrosis

Ischaemic necrosis of bone - mostly in adults

Question 2

What sites are particularly prone?

What is the commonest site?

Answer 2

Femoral head
Femoral bone
Humerus

Hip joint

Question 3

Name 3 risk factors

Answer 3

Regular, prescribed prednisilone use
Illicit steroid use
Excess alcohol intake

Question 4

AVN can occur secondary to a fracture. True or false?

Answer 4

True

Question 5

If AVN is caught early enough what surgical intervention can be done to minimise damage?

What is the thinking behind this?

Answer 5

Drill holes into dying bone

Relieves pressure in bone and promotes angiogenesis

Question 6

The majority of AVN is idiopathic. Is it in the arterial or venous circulation that thrombosis most likely to occur though?

Answer 6

Venous - causes arterial circulation to back up

Question 7

What takes AVN from being reversible to irreversible?

Answer 7

Deformity of the femoral head e.g. collapse