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Please turn on JavaScript and try again. Important Phone Numbers. When should you call for help? Where can you learn more? Top of the page. Your Care Instructions The pelvis is the ring of bones between your hips. How can you care for yourself at home? Put ice or a cold pack on the painful area for 10 to 20 minutes at a time.
Try to do this every 1 to 2 hours for the next 3 days when you are awake. Put a thin cloth between the ice and your skin. Be safe with medicines. An X-ray will show the fracture. A computed tomography CT scan will be done in complicated cases to get a better picture of the fractures.
Depending on how bad the fracture is, other imaging procedures may be needed. This may include contrasting studies where a radioactive dye is injected to create pictures to evaluate organs and structures in the pelvic area, such as the urethra, bladder and blood vessels. With a potentially serious pelvic fracture, emergency aid should be called.
The person with the injury should be kept warm with a blanket or jacket, and should not be moved by untrained personnel, especially if there is severe pain or signs of possible nerve injury. Treatment depends on how bad the injury is.
With a minor fracture, the most common treatment is bed rest, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications or prescription painkillers. Physical therapy, the use of crutches and, rarely, surgery may be recommended.
Healing can take eight to 12 weeks. Severe injuries to the pelvis that involve several breaks can be life-threatening.
Shock, extensive internal bleeding and internal organs damage may be involved. The immediate goal is to control bleeding and stabilize the injured person's condition.
These injuries often require extensive surgery as well as lengthy physical therapy and rehabilitation. In the surgical treatment, the orthopedic surgeon will put the pelvic bones back together and hold them in place with an internal device, such as:. Skip to content. Pelvic Fracture Not what you're looking for? Start New Search. About pelvic fractures The pelvis is a butterfly-shaped group of bones at the base of the spine.
Pelvic fractures are classified as: Stable, in which the pelvis has one break point in the pelvic ring, limited bleeding and the bones are staying in place Unstable, in which there are two or more breaks in the pelvic ring with moderate to severe bleeding. Why do some pelvic fracture patients need more than one surgery?
The most common pelvic fracture is towards the front the pubic bones , which occurs in older patients. These fractures are usually due to some thinning of the bones from osteoporosis. A common scenario is a patient loses his or her balance, lands awkwardly and breaks his or her pelvis. It is also possible for patients to lose their balance and cause their muscles to pull so hard against each other that they can pull the pelvis apart.
Most pelvic fractures heal on their own. Your doctor may recommend stretching and range-of-motion exercises in muscles and joints aside from those in the affected hip to maintain strength and improve blood flow, which stimulates healing. Your doctor may recommend a technique called bone stimulation to help speed bone healing.
Bone stimulation uses a low electric current or low-intensity pulsed sound waves. If a fracture is slow to heal, your doctor may also recommend a portable unit that can be used daily at home. In electronic bone stimulation, a doctor places a small electrode or electrodes—flat discs that adhere to the skin and conduct electricity—onto the skin near the fractured hip or pelvic bone.
The electrodes are connected to a machine that sends a low electrical current to the affected bone. This technique jump-starts the healing process by stimulating your body to produce proteins that begin to repair cells at the site of the injury. In ultrasonic bone stimulation, a doctor applies a gel to the skin that helps conduct ultrasonic sound waves, which are produced by a small machine. Sound waves encourage the body to incorporate calcium into the bone, helping to rebuild bone mass, as well as stimulating the production of certain chemicals involved in the healing process.
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