A review of open pelvic fractures with concurrent genitourinary injuries

Introduction Open pelvic fractures (OPFs) are uncommon but potentially lethal traumatic injuries. Often caused by high energy blunt trauma, they can cause severe injury to abdominal and pelvic structures. We sought to conduct a review of the literature in order to ascertain the rates of genitourinary injury and vaginal laceration after OPF and the rates of resulting infection and mortality. Methods A review of PubMed was conducted to identify studies reporting the rates of genitourinary injury from OPF. Study characteristics, patient characteristics, and outcomes were collected. The data were pooled, and descriptive statistics were obtained. Results Eight studies encompassing 343 patients were included. Average age was 35.1 years (10–85.9), 28% were female, and the average Injury Severity Score was 26.5 (4–75). 95.5% of patients had a blunt mechanism of injury. Motor vehicle collision (23.9%), motorcycle accident (19.7%), and pedestrian struck (19.3%) were the most common etiologies. Overall mortality and infection rates were 31.2% and 18.7%, respectively. 19.7% of patients suffered an injury to the genitourinary system, and 32.4% of females sustained a vaginal laceration. Discussion OPFs have the potential for extremely high morbidity and mortality. While much research has been done to prevent early mortality from hemorrhage, there is comparatively little research into late mortality stemming from infection and sepsis. Intravenous antibiotics are the mainstay of treatment, and local antibiotics usage has been encouraged. In patients with a vaginal laceration, it is important to provide antibiotic coverage for vaginal flora.