Association between Young-Burgess pelvic ring injury classification and concomitant injuries requiring urgent intervention

Abstract Background Young-Burgess classification (YB) is a mechanistic system which classifies pelvic ring injuries into anterior-posterior compression (APC), lateral compression (LC), vertical shear (VS) injuries, and combined mechanism (CM). The objective of this study was to identify associated injuries which require urgent operative intervention by YB classification. We hypothesize that YB classification is associated with 1) need for urgent intervention for pelvic fracture-related hemorrhage and 2) patterns of injury complexes requiring surgery. Methods This is a retrospective study of severely injured trauma patients with pelvic ring injuries who presented to an urban Level-1 trauma center from 2007 to 2017. Associated injuries and procedures were determined by Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and ICD-9/10 codes. YB classes were compared, followed by a cluster analysis to identify injury patterns and association with YB classifications. Results Overall, 135 patients were included. 72% (98) of patients presented with LC, 12% (16) with APC, 6% (8) with VS, and 10% (13) with CM. VS and APC groups had higher rates of REBOA use compared to LC and CM groups (38% and 31% versus 11% and 0%, respectively, p = 0.01). The CM group, compared to LC, APC, and VS, had higher rates of urgent operative intervention for bleeding control (69% versus 32%, 50% and 43%, respectively, p = 0.01). 39 (29%) patients had a concomitant injury which was identified by CT scan in initial trauma work up and altered management, 46% which merited urgent intervention. On cluster analysis, there were no distinct injury complexes which required urgent operative intervention by YB class. Conclusions These data failed to identify unique injury complexes which merit urgent operative intervention by YB class. Nearly one in four patients had injuries identified by initial CT imaging which altered initial management, demonstrating the importance of early, full body CT imaging in severely injured patients with pelvic ring injuries.