ANALYSIS OF THE SEGMENTAL IMPACTION OF FEMORAL HEAD FOLLOWING AN ACETABULAR FRACTURE SURGICALLY MANAGED

ABSTRACTObjective: Correlate the postoperative radiographic evaluation with variables accompanying acetabular fractures in order to determine the predictive factors for segmental impaction of femoral head. Methods: Retrospective analysis of medial files of patients submitted to open reduction surgery with internal acetabular fixation. Within approximately 35 years, 596 patients were treated for acetabular fractures; 267 were followed up for at least two years. The others were excluded either because their follow up was shorter than the minimum time, or as a result of the lack of sufficient data reported on files, or because they had been submitted to non-surgical treatment. The patients were followed up by one of three surgeons of the group using the Merle d'Aubigné and Postel clinical scales as well as radiological studies. Results: Only tow studied variables-age and amount of postoperative reductionshowed statistically significant correlation with femoral head impaction. Conclusions: The quality of reduction-anatomical or with up to 2mm residual deviation-presents a good radiographic evolution, reducing the potential for segmental impaction of the femoral head, a statistically significant finding.