ASSOCIATED POSTERIOR PELVIC INJURY PATTERNS IN TRANSVERSE-ORIENTED ACETABULAR FRACTURE

Systematic Review of Combined Pelvic Ring and Acetabular Injuries: What Do We Know From the Literature?

The purpose of this review is to examine the literature on combined pelvic ring and acetabular fractures. We hope to further define the classifications, severities (ISS & Mortality), healing, radiographic parameters, and functional outcomes of such injuries to report all potential recommendations based on findings. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, and a systematic search on PubMed and Google Scholar was performed. Articles included were in the English Language or through English translation, between the years 1996 and 2022. Articles that had met the inclusion criteria were systematically assessed for the relevance of their content. Eleven articles were identified with a total of 985 patients. All eleven were retrospective case series and the presence of both an injury within the pelvic ring and another injury within the acetabulum, either ipsilateral or contralateral, was the indication of a combination injury. The overall mortality rate averaged over all studies was 7.9% and the Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 22.98. When considering the higher mortality rate seen in pelvic ring injuries compared to the isolated acetabulum, there appears to be survivability beyond reductive means as a reason for reducing and fixing the pelvic ring first. However, accurate reduction of the acetabulum has a greater weight in overall patient recovery compared to the reduction of the pelvic ring and thus surgical emphasis on the anatomic reduction of the acetabulum may be paramount. Despite this good to excellent outcomes can be achieved with careful preoperative planning and surgical execution in patients with fractures of the pelvic ring and acetabulum. Further research as well as uniform radiographic scoring system and outcomes scores should be required to better evaluate and treat these injuries.

Three-dimensional mapping study of pure transverse acetabular fractures

BACKGROUND

To describe and analyze the morphological characteristics, location and frequency of pure transverse acetabular fracture lines through fracture mapping and quantitative measurements.

METHODS

Transverse fractures were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. All computed tomography (CT) data were used for reconstruction and manual reduction. The reductive fracture fragments were graphically overlaid onto a three-dimensional (3D) right hemipelvis template. Then, the fracture lines were accurately depicted onto the surface of the 3D template. The fracture lines were overlapped onto the model to create the 3D fracture map and heatmap. All cases were subdivided into infratectal (62-B1.1), juxtatectal (62-B1.2), and transtectal (62-B1.3) types based on the AO Foundation/Orthopedic Trauma Association (AO/OTA) classification. Some anatomic parameters of the transverse fractures were also analyzed in these 3 groups.

RESULTS

Our study included forty-nine transverse fractures from 32 male and 17 female patients (mean age, 42 years; range 21-74 years) and included 19 type 62-B1.1, 17 type 62-B1.2, and 13 type 62-B1.3 fractures. The average anterior rim fracture angle was 70.0° (± 11.6°), and the posterior rim fracture angle was 92.4° (± 28.5°). The anterior rim fracture angles in 40 cases (40/49, 81.6%) fell within a wide range between 63° and 80°. On the heatmap, the hot zones were located on the highest position of the cotyloid fossa and the narrowed region, and the cold zone was on the inferior third of the articular surface. For type 62-B1.3 fractures, the hot zone was located on the posterior of the acetabular dome. There were no significant differences in anterior rim fracture angle and anterior height among the three patterns (P = 0.071, P = 0.072). Post hoc tests of the posterior rim fracture angle and the posterior height revealed significant differences among fracture subtypes (P < 0.01). The posterior intra-articular fracture line was significantly longer than the anterior intra-articular fracture line in type 62-B1.1 and type 62-B1.2 fractures (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The fracture lines of transverse fractures through the anterior rim were concentrated on the narrowed zone, and the posterior fracture lines were diffusely distributed. The intra-articular fracture line distribution was focused on the superior and middle thirds of the joint surface. The recurrent fracture lines involving the weight-bearing dome mainly converged on the posterior region of the roof.