Defining Sacral Dysmorphism: What Size Corridor Precludes Transsacral Screw Placement.

OBJECTIVE

To determine what size S1-transsacral (TS) corridor is amenable to TS screw placement, as this is commonly used to identify sacral dysmorphism, and to determine if gender, ethnicity, or screw breach is associated with narrow corridors.

DESIGN

Retrospective review.

SETTING

Urban level-1 trauma center.

PATIENTS

Two hundred ninety patients with pelvic ring injuries and preoperative computed tomography (CT) scans.

INTERVENTION

Percutaneous posterior pelvic ring fixation.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS

The width of the S1-TS corridor was measured on the axial (inlet) and coronal (outlet) reformatted CT images. Patients with S1-TS screw fixation and postoperative CT scans were identified. Corridor size, gender, ethnicity, and screw breach were documented.

RESULTS

S1-TS screws were placed in 55 of the 290 patients. No S1-TS screws were placed in corridors less than 8 mm. Corridors of <8 mm were present in 114 (39%) of the 290 patients and were not associated with gender or ethnicity. S1-TS screws placed in small (<10 mm) versus large (≥10 mm) corridors did not have a detectable difference in screw breaches (5 of 8, 62% versus 19 of 47 40%; difference, 22%, 95% confidence interval -14% to 52%) or median (interquartile range) screw breach distance [3 mm (2.5-4.8) versus 3 mm (1.2-4.8); difference, 0.9 mm; confidence interval -1.6 to 2.2].

CONCLUSION

These data are useful for the standardization of sacral dysmorphism reporting based on corridor size. Screw breaches were common irrespective of TS corridor size, emphasizing the small degree of error allowed by this procedure.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.