Factors affecting mortality in pelvic fractures.

Review of 100 consecutive patients with pelvic fractures admitted to a trauma service during an 11-month period was undertaken in order to define the factors which affected the mortality. Mortality was most significantly affected by severity of injury, presence of a head injury, admitting blood pressure, admitting hemoglobin level, and requirements for blood and blood products. Evaluation of anatomic configuration of fractures demonstrated that posterior fractures required larger amounts of blood and blood products, had a significantly decreased admitting blood pressure, and had a significantly higher mortality, despite there being no significant difference in injury severity between patients having anterior or posterior fractures.