The invention of an iliosacral screw fixation guide and its preliminary clinical application

To introduce an iliosacral screw fixation guide and evaluate its efficacy in fixation of sacroiliac joint fracture-dislocations.

Between January 2011 and May 2011, eight patients (five men, three women) with sacroiliac joint fracture-dislocation underwent percutaneous iliosacral screw fixation with the assistance of this minimally invasive guide and under CT guidance. The patients, aged from 26 to 56 years (mean 32 years), had vertically unstable pelvic fractures. Before surgery, six patients who had displacement of >2 cm in their sacroiliac joints underwent skeletal traction on the femoral condyle. The inserted sites were marked out on the affected side of their buttocks after the best screw trajectory had been determined under CT control. The gear that controls the direction of the minimally invasive guide was adjusted according to the inserting angle determined by CT scans. A K-wire was inserted into the sacroiliac joint along the pilot sleeve of the guide, and a hollow screw (diameter 7.3 mm) was implanted into the sacroiliac joint along the K-wire.

All eight operations were successful on the first attempt. The operations lasted from 10 to 20 minutes (mean 14 minutes). Immediate CT scans confirmed that all the screws had been placed in the desired positions, none had penetrated the bones and the configuration of the sacroiliac joints had been satisfactorily restored and firmly fixed. No patient experienced numbness or radiating pain in the lower limbs during surgery. There were no postoperative vascular or neurological complications.

The minimally invasive guide can eliminate discrepancies resulting from the surgeon's own sensory input when inserting screws under the guidance of CT, making percutaneous iliosacral screw fixation more accurate, safe and simple.