Functional and Radiological Outcome of Anterior Plate Stabilisation of the Sacroiliac Joint in Unstable Pelvic Injury

INTRODUCTION: Sacroiliac joint disruption, resulting from high energy trauma can cause significant morbidity if no proper treatment given. Many techniques can be used to stabilise pelvic ring injuries. We studied the functional and radiological outcome following open reduction and anterior fixation of the sacroiliac joint and agreement between both outcomes.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study involved 15 patients with unstable pelvic injuries requiring surgical intervention from January 2015 to December 2020 who undergone anterior stabilisation of the sacroiliac joint. Radiological outcome assessments were done postoperatively by using Lindahl criteria. The complete functional outcome was assessed at least six months postoperatively when patients were able to weight bear by using Majeed system. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27.

RESULTS: The participants consist of 73.3% male and 26.7% female patients. A total of 66.7% of patients had a Tile type B pelvic ring injury, and the remaining 33.3% had a Tile type C pelvic ring injury. Based on the Majeed system, 73.3% of patients had excellent functional outcomes, and based on Lindahl criteria; there were 60% of patients who had excellent radiological outcome. However, there was no significant agreement between functional and radiological outcomes.

CONCLUSION: Definitive fixation of the sacroiliac joint by anterior plate stabilisation provided an excellent functional and radiological outcome mainly due to good anatomical reduction and mechanical stability. However, further study may be needed to evaluate the correlation between functional and radiological outcomes and compare the various method of fixation with a larger sample size.