[Pelvic fractures]

Pelvic fractures, although accounting for only 2-3% of all traumatic skeletal lesions, are extremely important due to the frequent sequelae and complications that can cause the death of the patient. Moreover, their incidence is increasing due to road accidents, sport and work injuries. X-ray examinations, if correctly performed, allow the degree of residual stability of the pelvic ring to be assessed; they allow both the recognition of the mechanisms of injury and the evaluation of bone lesions. The X-ray examination can provide the orthopedist all the necessary information for the correct treatment planning, employing an external setting or, when the lesion is unstable, an open-field setting. The authors, after considering the major types of pelvic ring fractures, classified on the basis of the mechanisms of injury, suggest the best radiologic protocol, in their opinion, for the pelvic fractures whose diagnosis is based on X-ray examinations. In these cases, CT is less useful than in the study of acetabular fractures; it rarely provides additional information and thus remains a supplemental exam to X-rays.