Risk of Postoperative Sciatic Nerve Palsy After Posterior Acetabular Fracture Fixation: Does Patient Position Matter?

To determine whether the prone or lateral position is associated with postoperative sciatic nerve palsy in posterior acetabular fracture fixation.

Retrospective cohort study.

Three Level I trauma centers.

Patients with acetabular fractures treated with a posterior approach (n = 1045).

Posterior acetabular fixation in the prone or lateral positions.

The primary outcome was the prevalence of postoperative sciatic nerve palsy by position. Secondary outcomes were risk factors for nerve palsy, using multiple regression analysis and propensity scoring.

The rate of postoperative sciatic nerve palsy was 9.5% (43/455) in the prone position and 1.5% (9/590) in the lateral position ( P < 0.001). Intraoperative blood loss and surgical duration were significantly higher for patients who developed a postoperative sciatic nerve palsy. Subgroup analysis showed that position did not influence palsy prevalence in posterior wall fractures. For other fracture patterns, propensity score analysis demonstrated a significantly increased odds ratio of palsy in the prone position [aOR 7.14 (2.22-23.00); P = 0.001].

With the exception of posterior wall fracture patterns, the results of this study suggest that factors associated with increased risk for postoperative sciatic nerve palsy after a posterior approach are fractures treated in the prone position, increased blood loss, and prolonged operative duration. These risks should be considered alongside the other goals (eg, reduction quality) of acetabular fracture surgery when choosing surgical positioning.

Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.