Curriculum · Musculoskeletal / Orthopedic / Rheumatology
Pelvic fracture with haemodynamic instability
What it is
An open book fracture of the pelvis is a discontinuity of the pelvic ring, and it bleeds.
How it is diagnosed
In polytrauma the pelvic x-ray belongs to the first set of films, to rule out a pelvic fracture, together with a CXR to rule out pneumo or hemothorax, an ABG from the femoral artery to check acidosis and base deficit, and a Foleys catheter to rule out urethral or bladder injury, with an NGT added by hand on the page. The primary survey comes first, to rule out life-threatening events, then the secondary survey. After that, a patient who is hemodynamically normal goes for CT, and one who is not goes for FAST, the focused abdominal sonography examination for trauma.