Garrett Pipkin

Biography

• Born on Jun 22, 1904 at Kansas City, USA
• Medical graduate of Washington University, St. Louis
• Orthopedic surgeon in Kansas City at St. Joseph Hospital, Kansas City General Hospital, Baptist Memorial Hospital and Trinity Lutheran Hospital.
• Major in the Army Medical Corps during World War II
• 1947 – Founding member of Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons
• 1950 – President of Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons
• Died on August 14, 1981

Medical Eponyms

Pipkin classification of femoral head fracture (1957)

Femoral head fractures are relatively uncommon and are typically associated with hip dislocations after severe high-impact trauma such as a motor vehicle collision. Hip fracture-dislocations are clinical emergencies requiring immediate reduction to prevent osteonecrosis. The Pipkin classification system is the most-frequently used system for classification of femoral head fractures.

Pipkin analysed a group of 25 cases (cases of his own and those of colleagues) and developed his fractures classification system of femoral head fractures (4 Types)

• Type I: Femoral head fracture inferior (distal) to fovea.
• Type II: Femoral head fracture superior (proximal) to fovea.
• Type III: Type I/II femoral head fracture AND fracture of femoral neck.
• Type IV: Type I/II femoral head fracture AND fracture of acetabulum, most commonly the posterior wall

Major Publications

• Pipkin FG. Congenital dislocation of hips; home treatment. Mo Med. 1954; 51(1): 29-33.
• Pipkin FG. Management of suppurative arthritis complicating artificial hips. Clin Orthop. 1955; 6: 126-40
• Pipkin FG. Treatment of grade IV fracture-dislocation of the hip. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1957; 39(5): 1027-42

References

Biography

• Pipkin USA – Dr F. Garret Pipkin Obituary. August 17 1981.
• NLMID 101426292. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1951 [Pipkin Portrait]

Eponymous terms

• Bartoníček J, Rammelt S. History of femoral head fracture and coronal fracture of the femoral condyles. Int Orthop. 2015; 39(6): 1245-50.
• Romeo NM. Classifications in Brief: The Pipkin Classification of Femoral Head Fractures. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2018; 476(5): 1114–1119.

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