[Infections in the surgical management of pelvic ring fractures].
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.
Chana Rodríguez
Francisco
F
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Chanaphd@yahoo.es
Villanueva Martínez
Manuel
M
Ortiz Espada
Alejandro
A
Calvo Haro
José Antonio
JA
Pérez Mañanes
Rubén
R
Vaquero Martín
Javier
J
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