What is a straddle fracture?: (A) Fracture of the skull, (B) Fracture of the C5 veebra, (C) Multiple rib fracture both sides of the midline, (D) Pelvic fracture
Answer is D. Straddle fracture of the pelvis (fracture of both superior and inferior pubic rami) is considered an unstable injury. The mechanism is a veical shear injury (in this case a car accident). Withstraddle fractures, there is a 40% chance of injury to the genitourinary tract Ref ganong's review of medical physiology 25e