Establishment of posterior tibial plateau partition and its clinical significance for surgical approach selection / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the guiding significance of posterior tibial plateau partition for the selection of surgical approach in treatment for posterior column fracture.Methods From June 2008 to May 2015,46 patients with posterior column fractures of tibial plateaus treated were retrospectively analyzed.There were 31 males and 15 females with an average age of 35.1±12.8 years old (range,19-62 years).Nineteen patients were left side and twenty-seven patients were right side.Injury was caused by traffic accident in 27 cases,falling from bicycle in 12 cases and falling from height in 7 cases.On the basis of the posterior condyle with anatomical structure in tibia1 plateau,the posterior column was divided into four parts.All fractures were treated via the optimal approach based on the location of them.The posteromedial approach was used with fractures in zone 1 and 2,posterolateral approach used in zone 3,lateral approach via the fibular head osteotomy was used in zone 4 and combined approaches were used in multiple zones.All the fractures involved the posterior column were treated by anatomical reduction and fixation with plates and screws under direct vision.Results All the patients were followed up with an average of 15.5±3.7 months (range from 12 to 24 months).The healing time of all patients was 11-18 weeks,with an average time of 14.6±2.3 weeks.According to Rasmussen radiographic evaluation,the average score was 15.1 (range from 11 to 18) and clinical outcomes were rated with "excellent" in 17 cases,"good" in 24 cases,"fair" in 5 cases.The excellent and good rate was 89.1％ (41/46).The mean HSS (the Hospital for Special Surgery) score of all patients at 12 months operatively were 86.7±8.6 (range from 67 to 98) and the functional scores were excellent in 25 cases,good in 17 cases and fair in 4 cases with the excellent and good rate was 91.3％ (42/46).The average range of motion in affected knee was 118°±13.7° (range from 0° to 135°) in 17 cases via posterolateral approach,123°±15.6° (range from 0° to 135°) in 18 cases via posteromedial approach,115°±16.7° (range from 0° to 130°) in 18 cases via combined posteromedial and posterolateral approaches and 124°±7.4° (range from 0° to 130°) in 4 cases via the fibular head osteotomy lateral approach.Complications included fat liquefaction in 1 case,anterior tibial artery spasm in 1 case and traumatic arthritis in 1 case.Conclusion The partition of posterior tibial plateau can be used to guide the surgical approach to the posterior column simply and accurately.For the fractures of isolated posterior column and posterior column mainly involved,the partition has a certain guiding significance.