Treatments of Tibial Condylar Fractures

Park, Yong Bum; Hwang, Chung Soo; Chung, Phil Hyun; Kang, Suk; Chae, Dong Ju; Kim, Han Chul; Moon, Sang ho; Lee, Seung Hun; Kim, Tae Young; Yun, Sun Hyun

Abstract

The tibial condylar fractures are characterized by intra-articular extension of fracture line and associated soft tissue injuries, and could affect knee alignment, stability, adn range of motion after treatments. Therefore, anatomical reduction and rigid internal fixation is mandatory to get satisfactory results. But this method of treatment can not be always possible due to technical dimend of surgical sklls and high risk of postoperative infection. The authors analyzed 43 cases of tibial condylar fractures, which were treated at the orthopaedic department of the Dongguk University Hospital from March 1990 to May 1996. Males were 34, and females were 9. Average age of patients was 41.4 years, and average follow up period was 18 months. The most common causes of injuries were traffic accidents (36 cases), and most common type of fracture was Schatzker type I. associated soft tissue injuries were observed in 21 cases. Treatment methods were chosen by degree of displacement of fracture fragment and associated soft tissue injuries. Conservative treatments were done in 23 cases and operative treatments in 20 cases. Satisfactory results were obtained in overall 32 cases(74%) regardless of the methods of treatment. Unsatisfactory results were observed in patients who had associated soft injuries and significant displacement of fracture. Conclusively, satisfactory results could be obtained in patients with tibial condylar fractures by appropriate selection of treatments according to displacement of fracture and associated soft tissue injuries.