Pelvic Fracture
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GENERAL INFORMATION:
What is it? A pelvic fracture is when one or more of the pelvic (hip) bones are broken. Your pelvis is made up of 5 bones, shaped in a circle. The 5 bones are the sacrum, coccyx (COX-iks), ilium, pubis, and ischium (ISH-e-um). Your pelvis protects and supports organs inside your body.
Causes: Many pelvic fractures are caused by an accident that happens at high speed, like a car accident or falling from a great height. Some pelvic fractures are caused by minor falls or injuries. An athlete may injure his hip when a sudden movement causes the muscle to tear away a piece of hip bone. These are called avulsion (a-VULL-shun) fractures.
Signs and Symptoms: Signs and symptoms of a pelvic fracture depend on the part of the pelvis that is fractured. General signs and symptoms of a broken pelvis follow:
- Bruising and tenderness over one or more of your pelvic bones.
- Swelling in one or more of the areas over your pelvic bones.
- Numbness or tingling in your genital area or in your upper thighs.
- Discomfort or pain when you stand.
Care:
- You may be taken to the ER, intensive care unit (ICU), to surgery, or to another place in the hospital. The pelvic fracture may need to be fixed with surgery or by putting pins into the bones from the outside. This is called external (eks-TER-null) fixation (fiks-A-shun). If you go to surgery, and if you have other injuries, these may also be fixed.
- Pelvic avulsion fractures usually can be treated with bed rest, using crutches or a walker, and pain medicine. If you have this kind of fracture, you may have to avoid putting weight on the hip bone until it heals.
- No matter what kind of pelvic fracture you have, you may have to limit your activity for several months. When you are not active, you are at a higher risk of getting blood clots in your body. Because of this, you may need to take blood thinner medicine to prevent getting blood clots. You may also need crutches or a walker, and you may need to go to physical (FIZ-uh-kull) therapy. Physical therapy helps your bones heal better and helps strengthen your muscles.
CARE AGREEMENT:
You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.
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