A modified anterior exposure to the acetabulum for treatment of difficult anterior acetabular fractures.

Many approaches to the acetabulum have been described for the treatment of displaced acetabular fractures. However, the treatment of complex anterior column fractures remains difficult. Commonly used approaches allow access to the internal cortical surface of the anterior column or a limited view of the outer cortical surface of the anterior column. We present a modification of a traditional Smith-Peterson approach with osteotomies for extensile exposure to the anterior column of the acetabulum.