title: Crossover external fixator for acetabular fractures: a cadaver study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dislocated acetabular fractures in polytraumatized patients are very challenging cases to deal with. Temporary stabilization by skeletal traction is difficult in these patients. A more effective solution can be an external fixation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The authors designed a new crossover external fixation frame for acetabular fracture. The aim of this study is the biomechanical testing of this frame on human cadavers.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is an experiment on ten human cadavers. The acetabular fracture C2.2 was created. The stabilization effect of external fixation was compared with stabilization by large distractor. Femoral heads' shifts caused by standardized manipulation with the cadaver were obtained from X-ray pictures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean total shift in stabilization technique by external fixation was 2.56 (1-4) mm. In stabilization by large distractor, the mean of the total shift after cadaver manipulation was 5.11 (0-10) mm. No significant differences were found between stabilization by external fixation and by large distractor (p = 0.066).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The stabilization of acetabular fracture C2.2 by a crossover external fixator is as effective as large distractor. The crossover external fixation could be a suitable solution for the temporary stabilization of acetabular fractures in polytraumatized patients. Subsequent studies including clinical trials are necessary to confirm the authors' suggestion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Sokolska 581, Hradec Kralove, 500 05, Czech Republic. frankmd@seznam.cz.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and University Hospital Kralovske Vinohrady, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dzupa
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Sokolska 581, Hradec Kralove, 500 05, Czech Republic.|Department of Field Surgery, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smejkal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baca
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Sokolska 581, Hradec Kralove, 500 05, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dedek
keywords: Acetabular fracture; Cadaver; External fixation; Polytrauma
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