©2006 British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery doi:10.1302/0301-620X.88B4. 16693 $2.00 J Bone Joint Surg [Br] 2006; 88-B:427-33. An unstable pelvic fracture may be life threatening and can be seen as ‘the killing’ fracture. Even if this is the only injury, it may be a serious problem. In the initial management of this type of fracture, the principles of advanced trauma life support (...

The case is presented of a 78 year-old patient who suffered a right ileo- and ischiopubic rami fracture after a casual fall. A few hours later, she presented with sudden abdominal pain and hypotension. Imaging test showed extraperitoneal hemorrhage with active bleeding and hemodynamic compromise. The progressive worsening, with anemia and hemodynamic instability, required her being sent to the ...

A retrospective study of all patients (N = 343) with pelvic fractures admitted to our trauma service was conducted to evaluate the impact of pelvic fractures on mortality. All patients sustained additional injuries with an average Injury Severity Score (ISS) of twenty. Thirty-six patients died. This group had more severe pelvic fractures as graded by the Tile classification as well as a greater...

The periprosthetic fracture of the acetabulum is a rare injury, and its management is only sporadically reported in the literature. A few case reports are available which mainly focus on periprosthetic acetabular fractures in the elderly population. In our case, a 32-year-old patient suffered from a periprosthetic acetabular fracture in combination with a pelvic ring injury following a high vel...

Objectives: To provide the anatomical basis via the anterior pelvis surgical approach to treat pelvic and acetabulum fracture. Methods: (1) Ten formalized cadavers were dissected, observed within the hypogastric region and pelvic anatomical position and variation. (2) On the basis of anatomical study, 20 patients with unstable pelvic fractures and 15 patients with acetabulum fracture were perfo...

Fourteen unembalmed cadavers were subjected to 44 blunt lateral impacts at velocities of approximately 4.5, 6.7, or 9.4 m/s with a 15 cm flat circular interface on a 23.4 kg pendulum accelerated to impact speed by a pneumatic impactor. Chest and abdominal injuries consisted primarily of rib fractures, with a few cases of lung or liver laceration in the highest severity impacts. There were two c...

In patients who have been the victims of high-energy trauma, severe pelvic injury should always be suspected. Most of these fractures are stable and respond well to conservative treatment. Pelvic fractures constitute 3% of all skeletal fractures and are associated with high-energy trauma. They are potentially serious injuries with significant mortality and large numbers of associated lesions. T...

With newer-generation ceramic components used in total hip arthroplasty, component fracture is a rare complication. However rare, when ceramic component fracture does occur, prompt identification and revision is necessary as delay can lead to dramatic failure with resultant metallosis as the extremely hard ceramic debris abrades remaining components. We present a case of a 70-year-old woman wit...

Sacral fracture commonly results from high-energy trauma. Most insufficiency fractures of the sacrum are seen in women after the age of 70. Fractures of the sacrum are rare and generally combined with a concomitant pelvic fracture. Transverse sacral fractures are even less frequent which constitute only 3-5% of all sacral fractures. This type of fractures provide a diagnostic challenge. We repo...