Definitive fixation of pelvic and acetabular fractures – current concepts

Abstract

Introduction. The most challenging injury in orthopedic surgery is pelvic trauma. There are different concepts of treatment strategies, specially in final treatment of pelvic ring and acetabular fractures. Objectives. Analysis of recent studies and evaluation of treatment methods. Materials and Methods. Analysis of 22 recent studies. Five papers met our inclusion criteria, that equated 745 patients. Results. Patients hemodynamically unstable need to be resuscitated and „damage control” orthopedics is widely accepted method. Definitive treatment after fourth day should be performed. Some papers show that early, within 48 hours, definitive treatment of pelvic ring and acetabular fractures give similar or better results. Conclusions. Tendency to early definitive treatment is widely observed and decreases mortality rates and complications.