Anterior Intrapelvic Plating of the Sacroiliac Joint-A Cadaveric Quantification of Visualized Area with Case Series

The objective of this study was to quantitatively describe the area available on the sacrum for reduction and plating using the Anterior Intrapelvic approach and describe its use clinically in a case series. The area available for plate and screw placement on 5 cadavers was on average 1007 ± 231 mm3. The cranial/caudal dimension at greatest length was 39.78 ± 6.91 mm, and the greatest length medial to the sacroiliac joint was 30.91 ± 3.43 mm. The major anatomic restraints to visualization were the S1 nerve root and the external and internal iliac vessels. Large fragment plates had an area overlying the sacrum of 360 mm3, and all sacrum had an area for at least two plates. The exposure was succesfully used for reduction, fixation and direct inspection of neural elements in 4 patients, demonstrating the anterior intrapelvic approach can be expanded to the lateral sacrum.