Major vascular injuries secondary to pelvic fractures: an unsolved clinical problem.

Twelve patients sustained sixteen pelvic fracture-related iliac and femoral arterial (5) and venous (11) injuries. Death was due in large part to delays in recognition and direct operative control of the major vascular disruption. Prompt operative exploration of all pedestrians admitted in hemorrhagic shock will open pelvic fractures characterized by a double break in the pelvic ring should reduce the 83 per cent mortality currently associated with this combination of injuries.