• Iordanis N Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Kanakaris, Stefanos Bonovas, Aristidis Triantafillidis, Christos Garnavos, Dionisios Voros, and Christos Leukidis.
• National University of Athens, Attikon University General Hospital, Athens, Greece. ipapado@med.uoa.gr
• J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2006 Jul 1; 203 (1): 30-43.

BackgroundTo determine the role of pelvic fractures in auditing mortality resulting from trauma.Study DesignThis retrospective case-control study based on autopsy-evaluated circumstances of the deaths of patients with pelvic fractures.ResultsOf 2,583 patients injured in motor-vehicle collisions, 655 (25.4%) constituted the pelvic fracture (PFx) group, and 1,928 (74.6%) constituted the control group. One-third of the PFx group's fatalities had an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 75 and were not preventable. The PFx group had a substantially higher median ISS than the control group (50 versus 34; p < 0.0001). Four hundred fifty-four patients (69.3%) in the PFx group with ISS 16 to 74 had substantially higher rates of associated injuries. Nearly half of the PFx group patients with ISS ConclusionsPelvic fracture is an indicator of severe multiple trauma, but a small proportion of deaths are directly attributable to pelvic fracture. A method based on autopsy audited patients with pelvic fractures as a paradigm of injury revealed that pelvic fracture is an important injury to consider in auditing trauma care and indicated several issues that should be considered to reduce mortality.

28 keywords...

hide…