ABSTRACT
Pelvic fractures resulting from blunt trauma are associated with mortality rates ranging between 6% and 50% (1). Although they account for 5% of trauma admissions (2), these patients often have high injury severity scores, and typically suffer from injuries to othermajor structures because the forces required to fracture the pelvis are substantial (3). For example, the incidence of thoracic aortic tears is significantly increased in patients with a fractured pelvis [especially the anterior-posterior (AP) compression type] (3). Accordingly, pelvic trauma patients can be hemodynamically unstable, and often have multiple competing management needs.
