[Timing of osteosynthesis in pelvic girdle injuries. Advantages and disadvantages of early surgical management].

Eighty-five percent of the patients with pelvic injuries have multiple injuries; the mortality averages 40%. The frequency of laparotomy is about 35%, predominantly because of rupture of the spleen and liver and less often because of rupture of the bladder. New osteosynthesis techniques were developed in an attempt to find better means of local tamponade. After acute cheilotomy, a simple means of ventral internal fixation should always be used. Dorsal stabilization techniques, if required, should seldom be done in the acute setting. Slätis-type external fixation as an isolated mode of stabilization is insufficient in unstable injuries.