PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mehin, Ramin
AU  - Meek, Robert
AU  - O’Brien, Peter
AU  - Blachut, Piotr
TI  - Surgery for osteitis pubis
DP  - 2006 Jun 01
TA  - Canadian Journal of Surgery
PG  - 170--176
VI  - 49
IP  - 3
4099  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/49/3/170.short
4100  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/49/3/170.full
SO  - CAN J SURG2006 Jun 01; 49
AB  - Background: Osteitis pubis is a rare and self-limited condition. Surgery may be necessary in 5%–10% of cases. The outcome after surgery for osteitis pubis is not known.Methods: To determine the success of surgical intervention for osteitis pubis, we used a computerized data registry to identify patients (10 women [mean age 40 yr]) who underwent surgery for osteitis pubis. A retrospective chart review was carried out. We also searched the literature for all cases of osteitis pubis managed surgically and identified 73 cases.Results: The 10 patients in our series had had symptoms for a mean of 4 years preoperatively. Onset of pain was insidious in 4 patients, it followed childbirth in 4 and it followed trauma in 2. Depending on the surgeon’s preference, either a wedge resection of the symphysis pubis was performed or a symphysiodesis. At the latest follow-up (average 26 mo), although all patients had some improvement, only 6 of 10 patients were satisfied with the outcome. From the literature review, we identified 3 categories of patients with osteitis pubis: elite athletes, patients with postoperative or infectious osteitis pubis and the remainder, which would include the patients in our series.Conclusions: Four types of surgical intervention are described: curettage, arthrodesis, wedge resection and wide resection. The elite athletes respond well to curettage. Patients with osteitis pubis following urologic or gynecologic procedures or have a proven infection require surgery in roughly 50% of cases. The third group has an unpredictable outcome.