Pelvic Injuries and Acetabular Fractures: Differences in their Severity

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The aim of the study was to assess differences in the number and severity of associated injuries between patients with pelvic injury and those with acetabular fracture. MATERIAL AND METHODS The patients treated in the period from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2010, were enrolled. The group comprised 249 patients (130 women and 119 men) with pelvic injuries and 58 patients (14 women and 44 men) with acetabular fractures. In the patients with pelvic injury, the average age was 52 years, 61 in women and 43 in men, in the range of 17 to 91 years. In the patients with acetabular fracture, the average age was 54 years, 59 in women and 53 in men, in the range of 21 to 96 years. The relevant data including age, sex, cause of injury, associated injuries and the overall severity of injury were obtained from the patient database. The results were statistically analysed using Pearson's 2 test at a 5% level of significance. RESULTS Acetabular fractures were recorded in more men than women and this difference was significantly higher (p = 0.002) than in the patients with pelvic injury in whom similar numbers of men and women were affected. A fall from height was significantly more frequent as a cause of pelvic injury than that of acetabular fracture (p = 0.034). The patients with pelvic injury also had significantly more associated injuries (p = 0.016) and the number of these patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) higher than 16 was significantly higher compared with the number of patients with acetabular fractures (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION Little published information is available on comparison of the severity of injuries in patients with pelvic injuries and those with acetabular fractures because these conditions are in fact two nosological units. In pelvic injuries, as conditions usually accompanied by multiple trauma, associated injuries, risk factors for death, requirements for primary life-saving measures, complications and treatment outcomes have been studied. Less attention has been paid to these issues in patients with acetabular fractures; the authors focused on determining the quality of intra-articular fracture treatment in relation to a subsequent risk of avascular necrosis of the femoral head or early arthritis. CONCLUSIONS The study comparing the patients with pelvic injury with those having acetabular fracture showed a significantly higher proportion of men in the group with acetabular fractures. A fall from height significantly more often caused a pelvic injury than an acetabular fracture. In traffic accidents, drivers usually suffered acetabular fractures while pedestrians and cyclists had pelvic injuries. However, a significantly higher number of associated injuries and multiple trauma with an ISS > 16 recorded in the patients with pelvic injury in comparison with those with acetabular fractures was the most important difference between these two groups.