The German Multicentre Pelvis Registry: a template for an European Expert Network?

The range of severity of pelvic injuries is wide and can include simple, undisplaced pelvic fractures, which may limit the activity of the individual patient for only a short period of time, and severe, complex or even open pelvic fractures, causing immediate life threatening situations. Even with continuous progress in development of techniques and treatment protocols, primary treatment and definitive reconstruction of pelvic ring injuries and acetabular fractures there is still an ongoing debate about specific problems in the evaluation of injuries and fractures. Because of the low incidence of pelvic fractures (37/100,000) the individual experience, which can be acquired by the surgical team, even in major Trauma Centres, is limited and can only be acquired over a longer period of time. The German Multicentre Pelvic Study Group started with reporting of pelvic fractures in 1991 and included 10 University- and Major Trauma Hospitals. The intense work on definitions and classification during the first years generated a universal "language" of understanding, which also helped in unifying indications and even procedures in pelvic and acetabular fractures. With several modifications and expansion of the number of participating hospitals the Group has been active until now and is just entering a "third phase" converting into the "German Multicentre Pelvic and Acetabular Registry" being technologically modified to an Internet based data registry. As this registry is already designed as an open platform, not limited in capacity and regions, it provides a platform, which may easily be expanded to the European level allowing for international multicentre studies and case sampling. Therefore this type of pelvic registry could act as a basis for further scientific evaluation of specific topics in the field of pelvic and acetabular surgery and could be a template for a European Expert Network. Driven by the differences of healthcare systems and organisation of trauma care within Europe and the challenge that pelvic fractures not only can lead to permanent disability, but also play an important role in posttraumatic fatalities, a clear need can be shown for detailed analysis of the present situation within the different European nations.