Fri., 10/19/07 Pelvis, Paper #31, 12:00 pm OTA-2007
Nonoperative Management of Both-Columns Acetabular Fractures: 20-Year Experience and Long-Term Results
Ayaz Lakdawla, MRCS (n); Y. M. Ho, FRCS (Orth) (n); Martin Blakemore, FRCS (Orth) (n);
University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry, United Kingdom
Purpose: This study looks at the outcome and morbidity following nonoperative management of both-columns fracture and compares it to the reported outcomes following surgical management.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was carried out of all both-columns acetabular fractures managed nonoperatively from 1984 to 2004. Patients were clinically assessed using a modified Merle d’Aubigne (Matta’s modification) score and quality of life assessed using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) health survey. The results of the SF-36 scores for this group of patients were compared with the UK normative values and the Student t test was applied to compare the respective means.
All these patients were managed according to the senior consultant’s protocol. Original acetabular radiographs were examined to confirm the classification had been correct. Late radiographs were inspected for the presence of union, avascular necrosis, nonunion, secondary osteoarthritis (OA), and heterotopic ossification.
Results: In the last 20 years, 57 patients have been managed nonoperatively. 10 had died from unrelated causes and 16 were lost to, or declined, follow-up. This left 31 patients available for assessment with at least 12 months following injury. The age at the time of injury ranged from 14 to 89 years. The majority of injuries were sustained in road traffic accidents.
The mean hip score was 15.5. 72% of the clinical scores were in excellent or good categories at the time of review. The SF-36 scores were not statistically significantly different from the normal population (P <0.05). All fractures had clinically and radiologically united at follow-up. Surprisingly, there were no cases of heterotopic ossification or avascular necrosis. Four patients developed secondary OA of the hip.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that good clinical outcomes with minimal complications can be achieved with conservative management in the majority of patients with such injury. Our results are comparable to those observed by Matta’s operative management.
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