Surgical Treatment of Unstable Pelvic Ring Fracture in Skeletally Immature Patients

OBJECTIVES To present the outcomes from definitive surgical treatment for unstable fractures of the pelvic ring in children undergoing surgical reduction and stabilization. METHODS We studied 10 patients with immature skeletons who suffered unstable fractures of the pelvic ring and were treated between March 2004 and January 2008. The study was retrospective, based on clinical and radiographic evaluations. RESULTS The mean age at the time of the trauma was 8.8 years (2 to 13 years). Seven patients were female and three was male. There were eight cases of trauma caused by being run over, and one case each of a motorcycle accident and falling from a height. Five patients had other associated injuries such as fractures of the clavicle, femoral diaphysis, proximal humerus, lower leg bones, olecranon and bladder injury. All the patients evaluated showed an excellent clinical outcome. The pelvic asymmetry before surgery ranged from 0.7 to 2.9 cm (mean 1.45 cm), and dropped to values between 0.2 and 0.9 cm (mean 0.39 cm) after reduction. In no case was any change observed in pelvic asymmetry measured in the immediate postoperative period and at the end of follow-up. CONCLUSION Pelvic ring fractures in skeletally immature patients are rare and surgical treatment is unusual. Several authors have questioned conservative treatment because of the complications encountered. Bone remodeling does not seem enough to cause an improvement in pelvic asymmetry, and this justifies the choice of surgical treatment for reduction and correction of pelvic ring deformities.