Reducing the risk of nerve injury during Bernese periacetabular osteotomy

The modified Smith–Petersen and Kocher–Langenbeck approaches were used to expose the lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh and the femoral, obturator and sciatic nerves in order to study the risk of injury to these structures during the dissection, osteotomy, and acetabular reorientation stages of a Bernese peri-acetabular osteotomy. Injury of the lateral cutaneous nerve of thigh was less likely to occur if an osteotomy of the anterior superior iliac spine had been carried out before exposing the hip. The obturator nerve was likely to be injured during unprotected osteotomy of the pubis if the far cortex was penetrated by > 5 mm. This could be avoided by inclining the osteotome 45° medially and performing the osteotomy at least 2 cm medial to the iliopectineal eminence. The sciatic nerve could be injured during the first and last stages of the osteotomy if the osteotome perforated the lateral cortex of ischium and the ilio-ischial junction by > 10 mm. The femoral nerve could be stretched or entrapped during osteotomy of the pubis if there was significant rotational or linear displacement of the acetabulum. Anterior or medial displacement of < 2 cm and lateral tilt (retroversion) of < 30° were safe margins. The combination of retroversion and anterior displacement could increase tension on the nerve. Strict observation of anatomical details, proper handling of the osteotomes and careful manipulation of the acetabular fragment reduce the neurological complications of Bernese peri-acetabular osteotomy. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2015;97-B:636–41.