Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The current treatment of tibial plateau fractures is bone graft repair of bone defects after reduction surgery, but the selection of filling materials for bone defects is controversial.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effect of injectable artificial bone combined with plate fixation for treatment of tibial plateau fractures.
METHODS: From January 2009 to December 2010, 34 cases of collapse tibial plateau fractures were treated by injectable calcium sulfate bone graft combined with supportive plate reconstruction. All patients preoperatively underwent radiography, CT scanning and three-dimensional reconstruction in order to accurately understand the extent of fracture and fracture collapse and the flip direction of shattered fragments.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: All patients were followed-up for 6 months to 2.5 years. The X-ray films showed anatomic reduction or near anatomic reduction, but nonunion or infection was not found. Wound exudations were observed in two cases and the bacterial culture was negative. According to evaluation of Lysholm score, the results were excellent in 13 cases, good in 17 cases, and fair in 4 cases. The Lysholm scoring of knee function showed that the mean score was (88.3±5.1) points. Minimally invasive injectable calcium sulfate bone graft combined with plate fixation for collapse tibial plateau fracture can effectively prevent the further loss after reduction, improve the long-term results. Minimally invasive injectable calcium sulfate as an artificial bone substitute materials has good prospects for clinical application.