Der Orthopäde
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On the occasion of the 1990 Conference of the German Society for Accident Surgery (DGU) in Berlin, a working group "Pelvis" of the DGU and the AO International was established on the initiative of H. Tscherne. It is the objective of this working group to formulate guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of pelvic girdle fractures, within the framework of a prospective multicentre study based on comparable results. ⋯ One hundred and eighty-two patients (39.6%) had an isolated pelvic injury, while 278 (60.4%) sustained multiple injuries. The average polytrauma score for all 460 subjects was 23.2 points. The surgical management was shown to depend on the severity of the fracture.
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High energy fractures of the pelvis are often associated with genitourinary, neurological, vascular, intestinal, and other skeletal injuries. The pelvic fracture therefore reflects only some of the destructive energy sustained by the patient and is a marker for the associated soft tissue injuries. In these complex pelvic injuries assessment, stabilization, and definitive treatment are complicated. ⋯ From 1972 to 1990 the clinical course and outcome of 132 patients with complex pelvic injuries were reviewed. The overall mortality was 34.8%. As the changes in the treatment protocol were implemented mortality decreased from 66.7% (1972-1978) to 18.7% (1985-1990).