Comparison of minimally invasive reduction through a bone tunnel combined with Jail screwing and posterolateral locking plating for simple posterolateral tibial plateau fractures / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the clinical effects of minimally invasive reduction through a bone tunnel combined with Jail screwing and those of posterolateral locking plating in the treatment of simple posterolateral tibial plateau fractures.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted of the data of 48 patients who had been operatively treated and completely followed up at Department of Orthopedics, Suqian Hospital of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Group for simple posterolateral tibial plateau fractures from October 2016 to October 2020. There were 26 males and 22 females, aged from 35 to 68 years. They were divided into a minimally invasive group (25 cases subjected to minimally invasive reduction through a bone tunnel combined with Jail screwing) and an incision group (23 cases subjected to posterolateral locking plating) according to their surgical methods. The operation time, incision length, intraoperative blood loss, fracture healing time, cumulative fluoroscopy time, hospital stay and posterior inclination angles of the tibial plateau and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) knee function scores at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after operation were compared between the 2 groups. Complications in the 2 groups of patients were recorded.Results:There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability ( P>0.05). The 48 patients were followed up for 12 to 36 months (average 16.5 months). The minimally invasive group was significantly better than the incision group in operation time [(42.6±9.1) min versus (65.7±11.5) min], incision length [(4.0±0.4) cm versus (15.0±1.5) cm], intraoperative blood loss[(22.6±5.8) mL versus (31.5±8.8) mL], hospital stay [(7.6±1.4) d versus (11.1±2.4) d], and HSS score one month after operation [(84.8±1.9) points versus (72.9±4.1) points], but the cumulative fluoroscopy time in the incision group [(4.1±1.4) s]was significantly less than that in the minimally invasive group [(22.3±4.2) s] ( P<0.05). There were no significant differences in fracture healing time, HSS scores at 3, 6, 9, or 12 months after operation, or posterior inclination angle of the tibial plateau between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). There were no such complications as wound infection, vascular injury, internal fixation failure, nonunion or malunion of fractures in either of the 2 groups. Two cases in the incision group presented with symptoms of common peroneal nerve injury but recovered 3 months after operation. Conclusions:Although both minimally invasive reduction through a bone tunnel combined with Jail screwing and posterolateral locking plating can achieve satisfactory outcomes in the treatment of simple posterolateral tibial plateau fractures, the minimally invasive technique is preferable because it shows the advantages of a smaller incision, less bleeding, shorter operation time, a lower operation risk, quicker postoperative recovery and shorter hospital stay.