The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 74, Issue 5 753-765, Copyright © 1992 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Stabilization of acetabular fractures in elderly patients
DL Helfet, J Borrelli, T DiPasquale and R Sanders
Orthopaedic Trauma Service, Tampa General Hospital, Florida 33617-3011.
Eighteen patients who were sixty years or older and had an acute displaced
fracture of the acetabulum were managed with open reduction and internal
fixation. The average age of the patients was sixty-seven years (range,
sixty to eighty-one years). Nine fractures were a result of a motor-vehicle
accident, and nine occurred in a fall. Nine patients had multiple
associated injuries, and most (sixteen patients) had other complex
acetabular fractures. All of the patients had open reduction and internal
fixation with either the ilioinguinal approach (thirteen patients) or the
Kocher-Langenbeck approach (five patients). All patients were managed
postoperatively with early mobilization and physical therapy. All fractures
united, and only one patient had a partial loss of reduction. Four patients
who had a concentric reduction had a gap of as much as three millimeters in
the articular surface due to comminution of the fracture. The complications
included two pulmonary emboli, which resolved with anticoagulation, and one
undetected intra-articular fragment, which led to an additional operation.
No infections or iatrogenic nerve injuries were noted. Seventeen of the
eighteen patients were followed for at least two years (average, thirty-one
months). These patients had an average Harris hip-score of 90 points
postoperatively. The treatment was regarded as having failed in only one
patient. Open reduction and internal fixation of selected displaced
acetabular fractures in the elderly can yield good results and may obviate
the need for early and often difficult total hip arthroplasty.