Characteristics of pelvic pressure sores and sepses of the hip The localization of the pressure sore associated with an SH was trochanteric in 25 cases and ischial in 8; 7 cases of bilateral SH occurred with any possible combination of pressure sores. Of the 26 cases of SH for which this information was available, the offending pressure sore had been evolving for a mean duration of 46 months (1–240; s.d.=61) and had already been treated at least once in 16 cases (61.5%). Prior treatment of the SH had also been noted in 10 cases and consisted of insufficient femoral shaft resection, always performed in French non-referral centers. Twenty-two patients presented with multiple sores at the time of the SH.