Objectives: Describe patient-reported pain and function within 24 months of a pelvic fracture treated with posterior screw fixation and identify factors associated with increased pain.
Design: Prospective case series.
Setting: Academic trauma center.
Patients/intervention: Eighty-eight patients with adult pelvic fracture treated with sacroiliac or transiliac screws.
Main outcome measures: Average pain measured with the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI); function measured with the Majeed Pelvic Outcome Score from 6 to 24 months postinjury.
Results: The mean pain from 6 to 24 months postinjury was 2.22 on the 10-point BPI scale (95% CI, 0.64-3.81). Sixty-nine patients (78.4%) reported mild to no pain at 6 months; 12 (13.6%) patients had severe pain. Two years after injury, 71 patients (80.6%) exhibited mild to no pain. Within 24 months of injury, the mean pelvic function was 71 on the 100-point Majeed scale (95% CI, 60-82). Half of the sample (n = 44) had good to excellent pelvis function by 6 months postinjury; 55 patients (62.5%) attained this level of function by 24 months. A history of chronic pain (1.31; 95% CI, 0.26-2.37; P = 0.02), initial fracture displacement (≥5 mm) (0.99; 95% CI, 0.23-1.69; P = 0.01), and socioeconomic deprivation (0.28; 95% CI, 0.11-0.44; P < 0.01) were significantly associated with increased pain.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that most patients with unstable pelvic ring fractures treated with posterior screw fixation achieve minimal to no pelvis pain and good to excellent pelvic function 6-24 months after injury.
Level of evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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