[Insufficiency fractures of the sacrum. 5 cases]

Five cases of insufficiency fracture of the sacrum in women aged over 60 are reported. The elements of diagnosis and causative factors are reviewed. In all cases the diagnosis was confirmed by technetium bone scintigraphy and computerized tomography of the sacrum. Bone tissue evaluation in search of a bone-wasting disease, the principal cause of this type of fracture, was conducted in all 5 patients, using photon absorptiometry and/or double energy computerized tomography and histomorphometry. These examinations provided detailed information on disorders of mineralization in the genesis of these insufficiency fractures.