The authors found 67% of the patients had worsening of the deformity posteriorly.
Paper No: 075, Thursday, March 19, 1998 02:44 PM, LaNouvelle
Ballroom B
Kyle F. Dickson, MD, New Orleans, LA
Joel M. Matta, MD, Los Angeles, CA
The clinical observation of a flexed and internally
rotated hemipelvis in patients with an unstable pelvis who were treated
with an anterior external fixator prompted this study. Using three-dimensional
measuring techniques, the authors reviewed the radiographs of pre- and post-external
fixator placement in the referred patients with an initial hemodynamic and
mechanically unstable pelvis. The authors found 67% of the patients had
worsening of the deformity posteriorly. The most frequent deformities of
the hemipelvis were cephalad and posterior translation, internal rotation,
and flexion. An equal number of abduction and adduction deformities existed.
Worsening of the external fixation deformity occurred in 73% of the patients.
All cases had a maximum measurement of displacement greater than 1 cm (average
3 cm; range: 1.5 cm to 5.4 cm) after placement of an external fixator.