Failure and salvage of "INFIX" instrumentation for pelvic ring disruption in a morbidly obese patient.

Abstract

Open-book pelvic fractures in the obese patient are accompanied by an increased risk of fixation failure. We report on the use of a recently described anterior subcutaneous pelvic internal fixator, the "INFIX" technique, in a morbidly obese patient. In this case, single and double rod constructs alone did not maintain adequate fixation due to the extreme forces in a morbidly obese patient. Successful salvage of the construct and satisfactory healing was achieved with the addition of 2 cross-links between the double rods of the INFIX.