Robot guided balloon tibial osteoplasty with screw fixation for the treatment of Schatzker II and III tibial plateau fractures / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of robot guided balloon tibial osteoplasty for the treatment of Schatzker II and III tibial plateau fractures.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of 59 patients admitted from January 2017 to December 2022. According to the surgical method, they were divided into two groups: robot guided percutaneous balloon tibial osteoplasty with "Jail" screw fixation group (study group) and open reduction and internal fixation group (control group). There were 28 cases in the study group, including 13 males and 15 females, with an average age of 44.21±9.70 years. In the study group, 8 cases were diagnosed of Schatzker II and 20 cases of Schatzker III. There were 31 cases in the control group, including 16 males and 15 females, with an average age 47.94±13.73 years. In the control group 7 cases were diagnosed of Schatzker II and 24 cases of Schatzker III. Between the two groups, demographics, surgical challenges and outcomes were all compared, including age, fracture classification, fracture collapse volume, surgical time, intraoperative bone graft volume, incision length, postoperative drainage volume, length of stay, fracture reduction quality (proportion of collapse area reduction volume evaluated by postoperative CT, Rasmussen radiology score), knee joint hospital for special surgery (HSS) score at 6 months after surgery, pain visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at before and 3 days after surgery and the final follow-up, complications.Results:All the patients were followed up for 116.92±6.08 months. The surgical time was 88.50±21.32 min in the study group, and 65.16±18.10 min in the control group with significant difference ( t=4.55, P<0.001). Between the study group and the control group, the intraoperative bone graft volume (3.04±1.15 cm 3vs. 5.87±2.03 cm 3), incision length (3.34±1.02 cm vs. 17.65±2.33 cm), postoperative drainage volume (13.04±19.45 ml vs. 85.16±41.54 ml), and length of hospital stay (11.64±3.07 d vs. 18.77±4.78 d) were all found to be significantly differently ( t=-6.69, P<0.001; t=-31.02, P<0.001; t=-8.67, P<0.001; t=-7.06, P<0.001). After 6 months of surgery, Rasmussen's radiological score was 17.32 ± 1.06 in the study group and 17.58 ± 0.85 in the control group with no significant difference ( t=-1.04, P=0.150). After 6 months of surgery, the HSS score in the study group was 93.75±2.22, and 92.71±2.19 in the control group with significant difference ( t=1.81, P=0.038). The VAS score between the study and control group was 7.04±0.92 vs. 7.00±0.97 before the surgery, 2.71±0.85 vs. 4.74±0.93 three days after surgery, and 0.21±0.49 vs. 0.26±0.51 at the final follow-up with significant pain relief at either three days or the final follow up within either group ( F=1884.53, P<0.001; F=55.98, P<0.001). Significant difference between the two groups was found at three days after the surgery ( t=-10.28, P<0.001), while no significant difference was found before surgery or at the final follow-up ( P>0.05). The wounds in the study group healed well, while in the control group, 4 cases had poor wound healing. One case in the study group had intraoperative balloon rupture and contrast agent leakage, while two cases had bone graft material leakage. There were no intraoperative complications in the open group. Conclusion:Robot guided balloon tibial osteoplasty for Schatzker II and III tibial plateau fractures had achieved satisfactory reduction, minimal bleeding, minimal trauma, short hospital stay, good knee joint function recovery, and satisfactory clinical results. However, attention should be paid to the issue of contrast agent leakage caused by balloon rupture.