title: [Infections in the surgical management of pelvic ring fractures].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infections that occur after the surgical management of pelvic fractures may involve potentially devastating complications. The broader approaches involving soft tissue dissection and a long operative time may increase the infection rate when compared with more conservative approaches. This incidence may be reduced with a better understanding of the approaches, lymph node sparing and antibiotic use. The purpose of this study is to assess the incidence and severity of local infections in a series of adult patients with pelvic ring lesions treated surgically.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a prospective observational descriptive study. A total of 49 patients operated on by a single surgeon from 2004 to 2008 were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-four patients (90%) had no signs of infection during the treatment period. In the remaining 5 cases (10%), 5 episodes of infection were documented.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The identification of a local postoperative infection warrants an aggressive and urgent assessment of the patient. The devitalized tissue should be removed and empiric antibiotic therapy should be instituted after taking culture samples. A deep infection rate after pelvic fixation ranging from 0 to 10% has been published. The prevalence is higher among the surgical teams with less expertise. The incidence rate in our review was similar to the one reported in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Chanaphd@yahoo.es
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chana Rodríguez
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villanueva Martínez
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ortiz Espada
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Calvo Haro
authors.forename: Rubén
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez Mañanes
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vaquero Martín
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010384:Pelvic Bones / Q000293:injuries*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies