The American journal of orthopedics
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Nineteen cases of external rotation (open book) injury of the pelvis were studies retrospectively. An apparent vertical displacement of the hemipelvis was detected on anteroposterior radiographic views in association with the separation of the symphysis pubis and opening of the sacroiliac joint. This could be confused with a vertically unstable situation; however, careful examination of the radiographs revealed that the public bone on the side of injury was displaced inferiorly. ⋯ The pubic bone on the side of the sacroiliac disruption displaced inferiorly as the external rotation progressed. It is important to differentiate between the inferiorly displaced pubic bone on the side of injury in cases of external rotation injury and the superiorly displaced pubic bone on the side of injury in cases of vertically unstable pelvic injuries. This may eliminate unnecessary procedures such as skeletal traction or pinning of the sacroiliac joint.
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Simple and reliable diagnostic aids need to be available for clinicians to consider sacroiliac joint dysfunction in the differential diagnosis of low back pain. The Fortin finger test was used as a means to identify patients with low back pain and sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Provocation-positive sacroiliac joint injections were used to ratify or refute the applicability of this new clinical sign for identification of patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction. ⋯ A subset of 10 individuals underwent additional evaluation to exclude the possibility of confounding discogenic or posterior joint pain sources. All 10 patients had no indication of either discogenic or zygapophyseal joint pain generators. These results indicate that positive findings of the Fortin finger test, a simple diagnostic measure, successfully identifies patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction.