[Read before the Section on Surgery and Anatomy, June, 1883.]
Simultaneous luxation of both femora is an accident of very rare occurrence. It is not mentioned at all by Malgaigne, and Hamilton barely refers to it. Among systematic writers on general surgery, Erickson merely states that it has been recorded in some instances, while Gibson says “an interesting case of the kind was reported two or three years ago in one of the European journals.” Gross says that three cases are recorded.
My attention was attracted to the subject by a case which occurred during my service at the Episcopal Hospital, in 1879, and I have succeeded in collecting twelve others. Even this small number present certain features which seem to me to warrant me in placing them together, for the purpose of drawing some inferences in regard to the mechanism of their production, and the occasional difficulties in diagnosis