Necessity of routine pelvic radiograph in the pediatric blunt trauma patient.

Background: Pelvic radiographs are obtained frequently in pediatric blunt trauma. The authors hypothesize that there are clinical indicators that can predict pelvic fracture on a pelvic radiograph in the pediatric blunt trauma patient with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 14 or 15.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study of 33 patients with pelvic fractures and 63 patients without pelvic fractures was performed.