Post-operative Care. If you have a pelvis fracture that is treated without surgery, you may be able to walk with crutches or a walker right away. If you have a have a more severe pelvis injury that requires surgery, you may be asked to not put weight on one or both legs.
Pelvic fracture signs and symptoms can include: Experiencing pain in your groin, hip and/or lower back. Experiencing more intense pain when walking or moving your legs. Experiencing numbness or tingling in your groin area or legs.
While lower-energy fractures can often be managed with conservative (nonsurgical) care, treatment for high-energy pelvic fractures usually involves surgery to reconstruct the pelvis and restore stability so that patients can resume their daily activities.
After a pelvic fracture, there may be injuries to organs within the pelvic ring such as the intestines, kidneys, bladder or genitals. A minor fracture is usually treated with bed rest and medication. Severe fractures often require extensive surgery.
The pubic rami are a group of bones that make up part of the pelvis. A pubic ramus fracture is a break in one of these bones. These fractures do not need an operation and will heal with time, analgesia and therapy. They often take about 6-8 weeks to heal.
In most cases, it's important to avoid sitting for long periods of time during the initial healing phase, which can last several weeks. Your doctor may recommend a period of bed rest or limited mobility to help the bones heal.
The biggest long term complication of a broken pelvis is the development of arthritis. The main reason doctors operate on these fractures is that they know from past experience that if they leave the fractures in a poor position, although they will often heal, arthritis may follow within five years.
A force between 2,000 and 10,000 newtons is required to disrupt an adult pelvic ring [1]. Such high forces are generated in traffic accidents, crush traumas, and falls from great heights. Very often, soft tissues inside the small pelvis and around the pelvic ring are also disrupted [2].
These pelvic fractures can be life-threatening, require emergency care, surgery, and extensive physical therapy rehabilitation.
Osteitis pubis typically occurs when the pubic symphysis joint is exposed to excessive, ongoing, directional stress. Osteitis pubis is most often a sports injury caused by the overuse of the hip and leg muscles. It is common in athletes who play sports that involve kicking, pivoting, or changing directions.
Depending on the extent of the lesion, in some patients, pelvic floor exercises, electrical stimulation or biofeedback may help to restore some pelvic floor function: exercises may improve the strength of the pelvic floor muscles once there is some return of function.
Some patients don't need surgery because the type of fracture (where it is located in the pelvis) is not dangerous, and the fracture is likely to heal of its own accord. There are also fractures that are not severe in that the broken bones are very close together and again are likely to heal on their own.
A person may walk with a limp for several months if the fracture has caused damage to the muscles around the pelvis. These muscles can take up to a year to reach the strength that they were before the fracture.
While your pelvis heals, you will need to keep weight off the hips. Once you are able to walk, a walker or crutches can help you get around. You can help your pelvis heal with care at home. Your doctor may prescribe medicine to relieve pain and prevent blood clots.
Activity Modification. After a hip or pelvic fracture, your doctor may advise you not to put any weight on the affected hip for six weeks or more. This allows the bone to heal.
Hemorrhage is considered the leading cause of death in patients with pelvic ring injuries [5, 19, 20].
There appears a current consensus for type C fractures to be touch to partial weight-bearing for 8–9 weeks, and for type B injuries partial weight-bearing for the same period of time; it is possible, however, for all pelvic fracture types to be managed with full weight-bearing as tolerated, given adequate stability.
Severe pelvic fractures can result in life-threatening bleeding and may be accompanied by serious injuries to other organs. X-rays can show most pelvic fractures, but computed tomography is usually also done.
Try sleeping on your back first while propped up on a few pillows. If that doesn't work, slowly adjust yourself to a side position if possible.
Major and unstable pelvic fractures are likely to cause severe pain and shock. Pain may be in the pelvis, groin, back, tummy (abdomen), or down the legs. The pelvic bones are large and have a rich blood supply, so when broken they will bleed heavily and the bleeding will not stop quickly.
Recovery and rehabilitation in the hospital
Most patients use crutches to assist their ambulation for six to twelve weeks. The first six weeks after operation is "quiet time" for most patients. Only gentle range of motion and light strengthening exercises are prescribed as the pelvic ring injury heals.
The pubic bone is the forward-facing bone in the center of the pelvis. Also known as the pubis, this bone forms the bottom of the pelvic girdle. Externally, you can feel your pubic bone at the bottom of the torso between your legs.
During pregnancy and after childbirth, you can realign your pubic symphysis by lying back on your elbows and squeezing a pillow between your raised knees. This is likely to temporarily relieve pain and pressure. A separated pubic symphysis can take 3 to 8 months to heal on its own.
You should expect to make a full recovery from osteitis pubis. It'll take time to heal your pubic symphysis joint, but you should be able to resume all your usual activities and sports.
Physiotherapy for stable pelvic fractures
Treatment options at this point will include: Static (isometric) exercises to strengthen the surrounding hip muscles including gluteal, hamstring and quadriceps muscles. Range of movement exercises at other joints including knee, ankle and foot. Maintaining upper limb activity.