Clinical Characteristics of Acetabular Fractures in Motor Vehicle Accident According to Tile's Classification

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Pelvic ring fractures amount to 1.5% of all joint fractures. The most frequent causes of pelvic trauma are related to car accidents (50~60%) and car-pedestrian crashes (24~28%). The incidence and severity according to the types of acetabular fractures are not known well. We wanted to evaluate the clinical characteristics of acetabular fractures. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records and radiographic findings of 46 cases of the acetabular fractures in patients who suffered motor vehicle accidents during a 2 year period (from March 2007 to April 2009). RESULTS: The proportion of acetabular fractures was 35.7% of all the pelvic bone fractures due to motor vehicle accidents. The males made up 65.0% of the patients. The mean patient age was 44 year old. The majority of cases were driver-accidents (37.0%). As basis on Tile's grouping, the anterior fracture was the most common type (45.6%). The initial ISS score was higher for anterior fracture than that for the other types of acetabular fractures. Surgical operations were performed for 59.0% of the study patients. When the operative intervention was performed within 3 days, the ICU stay of the patients was much longer. Early surgical intervention could not reduce the development of late complications or improve the overall clinical outcomes. CONCLUSION: Acetabular fractures are not a rare type of pelvic bone injury in patients who are injured in motor vehicle accidents. Anterior fracture was the most common type and it showed a poor prognosis. Early surgical intervention cannot reduce the length of the hospital stay of patients with acetabular fractures or the development of late complications.