Fractures of the Acetabulum A Study of a Series of 75 Cases

Emile Letournel was born on December 4, 1927 in the St. Pierre et Miquelon islands, a French possession in the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. After his preliminary schooling, he was awarded a scholarship to the French Institute in London. He left his home and family at the age of sixteen, travelling to England on a troop ship in 1944. At the end of the war he was able to go to Paris where he completed his education, receiving his medical degree from the Paris Faculty. Letournel became a protege of Professor Robert Judet at the Hospital Raymond Poincare and this association became the most important factor in the development of his professional life. Because of Judet's interest in the management of pelvic fractures, Letournel focused his attention on this problem also. As a result of his work in this area, major advances have occurred in the surgical techniques used to reduce and fix difficult fractures of the acetabulum. The paper chosen as a classic article is based on his thesis which was completed in 1960. It represents one of the first steps in using the diagnostic radiographs to classify and define the type of acetabular fracture and to determine the proper surgical approach to be used in reducing and fixing the fracture. Letournel continued to expand on this early work and through his numerous lectures, publications and books has become the major authority on the difficult problems posed by fractures of the acetabulum. He is presently a Professor of Surgery of the Hospitals of Paris and has a private practice in Courbevoie, France.