Gluteal Muscle Fatty Atrophy: An Independent Risk Factor for Surgical Treatment in Elderly Patients Diagnosed with Type-III Fragility Fractures of the Pelvis

Linhart, Christoph; Mehrens, Dirk; Gellert, Luca; Ehrnthaller, Christian; Gleich, Johannes; Lampert, Christopher; Lerchenberger, Maximilian; Böcker, Wolfgang; Neuerburg, Carl; Zhang, Yunjie (2023): Gluteal Muscle Fatty Atrophy: An Independent Risk Factor for Surgical Treatment in Elderly Patients Diagnosed with Type-III Fragility Fractures of the Pelvis. Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM). ISSN 2077-0383

Abstract

Background: Gluteal muscle fatty atrophy (gMFA) might impair pelvic stability and negatively influence remobilization in patients with fragility fractures of the pelvis (FFP). This study aimed to investigate the association between gMFA and surgical indication in patients with FFP. Meth-ods and materials: A retrospective analysis of 429 patients (age ≥80) diagnosed with FFP was performed. gMFA of the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus was evaluated using a standard scoring system based on computer tomography images. Results: No significant difference was found in gMFA between genders or among FFP types. The severity of gMFA did not correlate with age. The severity of gMFA in the gluteus medius was significantly greater than in the glu-teus maximus, whereas the most profound gMFA was found in the gluteus minimus. gMFA was significantly more severe in patients who underwent an operation than in conservatively treated patients with type-III FFP, and an independent correlation to surgical indication was found using logistic regression. Conclusion: Our findings imply that gMFA is an independent factor for sur-gical treatment in patients with type-III FFP. Besides focusing on the fracture pattern, the further evaluation of gMFA could be a feasible parameter for decision making toward either conserva-tive or surgical treatment of type-III FFP.

• Doc-Type: Article (LMU Hospital)
• Organisational unit (Faculties): 07 Medicine > Medical Center of the University of Munich > MUM - Musculoskeletal University Center Munich
• DFG subject classification of scientific disciplines: Life sciences
• DFG: Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - 491502892