Traumatic osteonecrosis

• Fractures (breaks in bones) and dislocations (when the ends of bones in joints become completely separated from each other)

Nontraumatic osteonecrosis

The most common factors causing or contributing to nontraumatic osteonecrosis are

• Use of corticosteroids (generally long-term and/or at high-doses)

• Excessive alcohol

Other factors causing or contributing to nontraumatic osteonecrosis are

• Blood clotting (coagulation) disorders

• Chemotherapy

• Cushing syndrome

• Decompression sickness

• Gaucher disease

• High level of lipids in the blood (hyperlipidemia)

• HIV infection

• Liver disease

• Organ transplantation

• Pancreatitis

• Radiation

• Sickle cell disease

• Smoking

• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other autoimmune connective tissue disorders

• Tumors

• Miscellaneous conditions (such as chronic kidney disease and rare genetic mutations)