Operative management of fragility fractures of the pelvis – a systematic review

Background The incidence of osteoporotic pelvic fractures in elderly patient is rising. This brings an increasing burden on health and social care systems as these injuries often lead to prolonged hospital admissions, loss of independence, morbidity and mortality. Some centres now advocate stabilisation of these injuries to reduce pain, facilitate early mobilisation, decrease hospital stay and restore independence. A systematic review of the literature was planned to establish the evidence for this intervention. Methods A systematic review was performed according to PRISMA guidelines. A clinical librarian performed a search of the following databases: NHS Evidence, TRIP, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, MEDLINE and EMBASE. Seventeen eligible studies were identified with 766 patients. Results The quality of evidence was poor with no good quality randomised trials. The majority of injuries were minimally displaced. Posterior ring injuries were most often stabilised with percutaneous screws which were sometimes augmented with void filler. A number of techniques were described for stabilisation of the anterior ring although fixation of the anterior ring was frequently not performed. There was consistent evidence from the included studies that operative intervention significantly improved pain. Complications were minimal but there were increased failure rates when a single unaugmented sacroiliac joint screw was used. The limited availability of non-operative comparators made it difficult to draw firm conclusions about the efficacy of surgical over non-surgical management in these patients. Conclusions Operative management of fragility fractures of the pelvis should be considered for patients failing a brief period of non-operative management, however prospective randomised trials need to be performed to provide improved evidence for this intervention. Surgeons should consider which fixation techniques for fragility fractures of the pelvis are robust enough to allow immediate weightbearing, whilst minimising operative morbidity and post-operative complications. PROSPERO Systematic Review ID: CRD42020171237.

Accuracy of fluoroscopic guidance with the coaxial view of the pedicle for percutaneous insertion of lumbar pedicle screws and risk factors for pedicle breach

OBJECTIVEIn this study the authors aimed to evaluate the rate of malposition, including pedicle breach and superior facet violation, after percutaneous insertion of pedicle screws using the coaxial fluoroscopic view of the pedicle, and to assess the risk factors for pedicle breach.METHODSIn total, 394 percutaneous screws placed in 85 patients using the coaxial fluoroscopic view of the pedicle between January 2014 and September 2017 were assessed, and 445 pedicle screws inserted in 116 patients using conventional open procedures were used for reference. Pedicle breach and superior facet violation were evaluated by postoperative 0.4-mm slice CT.RESULTSSuperior facet violation was observed in 0.5% of the percutaneous screws and 1.8% of the conventionally inserted screws. Pedicle breach occurred more frequently with percutaneous screws (28.9%) than with conventionally inserted screws (11.9%). The breaches in percutaneous screws were minor and did not reduce the interbody fusion rate. The angle difference between the percutaneous and conventionally inserted screws was comparable. Insertion at the L3 or L4 level, right-sided insertion, placement around a trefoil canal, smaller pedicle angle, and a small difference between the screw and pedicle diameters were found to be risk factors for pedicle breach by percutaneous pedicle screws.CONCLUSIONSPercutaneous pedicle screw placement using the coaxial fluoroscopic view of the pedicle carries a low risk of superior facet violation. The screws should be placed carefully considering the level and side of insertion, canal shape, and pedicle angle.

Use of External Fixators as a 3-Dimensional Navigation Drill Guide for Arthroscopic Ankle Arthrodesis

In this article, we describe a novel technique using external fixators and cannulated screws to construct a 3-dimensional navigation drill guide to predict the screw trajectory before screw insertion that can prevent screw collision during arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis. Four orthopedic residents who had no prior experience of ankle arthrodesis were instructed on how to use the 3-dimensional navigation drill guide and where to insert the screws for ankle arthrodesis. Each resident inserted 6.5 cannulated screws on 8 sawbone ankle models using the device and the C-arm fluoroscopy. An experienced attending surgeon also inserted the same screws on 2 sawbone ankle models to find out if there is any difference between the experienced and inexperienced surgeons. All four residents and an attending surgeon did not experience any collision of screws for the three cannulated screws. Notably, one resident had collision of the 4th screw on his first sawbone model. On the second saw bone model, all surgeons could insert 5 screws without redrilling. A 3-dimensional navigation drill guide constructed with external fixators can assist surgeons in implementing percutaneous screws for arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis.

Surgical Technique of Percutaneous Iliosacral Screw Fixation in S3 Level in Unstable Pelvic Fracture with Closed Degloving Injury and Morrell Lavallee Lesion: Two Case Reports

Unstable pelvic ring fractures raise treatment challenges in severely injured patients. Beside patient survival, demanding surgical technique also required. Classic technique of internal fixation requires extensive surgical exposure that leads to most complications of the pelvic fractures fixation. Therefore less invasive technique is a reasonable alternative especially in unstable pelvic fracture with soft tissue injury or potential infection. Unfortunately in sacral dysmorphism pelvic injury or in complete vertical sacral fracture, we need S3 level insertion to improve stability of iliosacral (IS) screw in S1 or S2. Purpose of this study was to show feasibility technically inserting IS screw in S3 level. Methods: We reported 2 cases of unstable pelvic injury. First case was an 11 years old boy with Torode and Zieg IV or Marvin Tile C1 pelvic fracture with right sacroiliac joint disruption and soft tissue injuries of skin avulsion on the left hip and Morel-Lavallée lesion on the right hip. He was managed with early anatomic reduction and fixation with percutaneous screws on both pubic rami and IS screw (sacroiliac lag screw type) on S1 and S3. Second case was a 30 years old male with open pelvic fracture Faringer zone III type, Marvin Tile B2 or YoungBurgess LC I and also with vertical sacral fracture Denis zone 1. This polytrauma case had associated injuries includes Morel-Lavallée lesion, intraperitoneal bladder rupture, infected laparotomy wound dehiscence, and immunocompromised. The same minimal invasive management of pelvic fracture was performed in this case by inserting percutaneous screws on pubic rami and IS (sacral screw type) on S1 and S3. Functional outcome was evaluated using Majeed and Hannover pelvic scoring system. Results: All patients survived and considered to have good reduction, with no residual displacement on the sacroiliac joint. The former case, at 21-month follow up, present with excellent outcome (80 out of 80) by Majeed score and very good outcome (4 out of 4) by Hannover score; while the latter case, at 18-month follow up, present with poor outcome (50 out of 100) by Majeed score and fair outcome (2 out of 4) by Hannover score. Conclusion: Percutaneous screw fixation for pelvic ring injury is a less invasive alternative that can be used for early stabilization of unstable anterior and posterior pelvic fractures and provide stable internal fixation. IS screw is feasible to be inserted in S3 level either sacroiliac joint type or sacral screw type.

Comparison of facet joint violation in lumbar posterior spinal instrumentation using different techniques including cortical bone trajectory

Study background: A retrospective study to compare the rate of facet joint violation (FJV) in lumbar posterior spinal instrumentation using open pedicle screw, percutaneous pedicle screw, and cortical bone trajectory (CBT) technique. CBT is a new posterior spinal instrumentation technique in which a more caudal entry point can minimize iatrogenic damage to the cranial facet joint. Only one recent study reports incidence of FJV of 11%; however, no previous reports comment on radiological outcomes comparing to traditional open and percutaneous screws. Methods: We reviewed 90 patients who underwent lumbar posterior spinal instrumentation from January 2016 to June 2017. Postoperative computer tomography scans were performed to evaluate FJV. Incidence of FJV was graded by three reviewers according to Seo classification. Results: Totally, 446 screws (open 43.4%, percutaneous 37.8%, CBT 18.9%) were inserted. Among these, 6.3% (28/446) had screw head or rod in contact with facet joint and 0.9% (4/446) had screws directly invaded the facet joint. Overall, FJV was 7.2% (CTB = 3.4%, open = 10.4%, and percutaneous = 4.5%, p = 0.075). Conclusion: CBT technique has potential advantage in reducing FJV. It has a unique entry site at lateral aspect of pars interarticular with a caudomedial to craniolateral pathway. It is a reasonable alternative to open or percutaneous techniques in lumbar posterior spinal instrumentation.