Professional Documents
Culture Documents
fractures
By
Yasser Alwabli
Objectives
• Anatomy
• Mechanism of injury
• Classification
• Diagnosis (History, Physical examination and
Imaging)
• Management
• Complications
Anatomy
• The tibial plateau is the • AO defines tibial
proximal end of the plateau as the
tibia including the metaphysis to a distal
metaphyseal and distance equal to the
epiphyseal regions as width of the proximal
well as the articular tibia at the joint line.
surfaces made up of
hyaline cartilage.
Distinction between medial and lateral condyles
• Medial:
o Slightly concave shape
o Larger in both width and length.
o Cartilage thickness ~ 3 mm
• Lateral:
o Convex
o 2-3 mm superior (proximal)
to the medial.
o Cartilage thickness ~ 4
mm
• Medial proximal tibial angle
(MPTA) 85 – 90.
• Posterior slope ~ 9 degrees
(Posterior proximal tibial
angle)
• Both plateaus covered with
hyaline cartilage.
Muscle attachments
• ITB to Gerdy’s tubercle
• Patellar tendon to
anterior tibial tubercle
• Pes Anserine tendons
(S, G, ST) to AM tibia ~
7 cm below joint line
Menisci
• Lateral meniscus
– semicircular
– covers 50 % of the plateau
– Attached to PCL via
ligaments
• Humphry (anterior)
• Wrisberg (posterior)
– No attachment to LCL
• Medial meniscus
– C-shaped
– Thick posteriorly, so
promoting posterior
stabilization.
– intimately attached to
MCL
Ligaments
• Four subdivisions: ACL, • PCL:
PCL, PM and PL corner o Two bundles: AL tight in
ligament complexes. flexion, PM tight in
• ACL: extension.
o Two bundles: AM tight in
flexion, PL tight in
o Prevents posterior
extension. translation
o Prevents anterior o From antermedial
translation femoral condyle to
o From PM corner of lateral posterior sulcus of tibia
femoral condyle to
anterior tibial
intercondylar area.
Ligaments
• PM corner: o PL corner:
o MCL and oblique popliteal o Arcuate ligament
ligament o Popliteus
o Prevents valgus instability
and PM translation of tibia o Posterolateral capsule
o MCL: o Lateral collateral ligament
o From medial femoral o Popliteofibular ligament
epicondyle o Lateral head of
o Superficial and deep gastrocnemiius
components
o Deep to medial
mensicus
o Superficial to distal
plateau
Neurovascular structures
• Common peroneal • Popliteal artery
nerve: – The trifurcation of the
– The common peroneal popliteal artery into the
nerve courses around anterior tibial, posterior
the neck of the fibula tibial, and peroneal
distal to the proximal arteries occurs
tibia-fibula joint before posteromedially in the
it divides into its proximal tibia.
superficial and deep
branches
Mechanism of injury
• Type I:
o Split-wedge fracture of
lateral plateau without
any joint depression or
impaction
o In young patients
o Lateral meniscal
pathology may be
present
Schatzker classification
• Type II:
• Type III:
o Pure depression of
the lateral articular
surface only.
o Common in elderly
Schatzker classification
• Type IV:
• Type A - Extraarticular
• Type B - Partial Articular
• Type C - Intra-articular and Metaphyseal
Posterior shear fracture
• Pure posterior fracture
fragments
• Does not fit into
Schatzker’s
classification, may be
bicondylar, or a knee
dislocation variant.
• Needs posterior
approach
Intercondylar eminence fracture
• Usually cruciate
ligament avulsions.
Associated injury
• Injury to collateral ligaments occur in 7% to 43%
• ACL rupture up to 23 %
• Meniscal injuries up to 50 % (in split type, may be
incarcerated)
• Any widening of the femoral-tibial articulation
greater than 10° upon stress examination indicates
ligamentous insufficiency
Diagnosis
• History :
• Age
• Comorbidities
• Patient activity level, employment, recreational …
• Mechanism of injury
• Direction of force
• Physical examination:
• ATLS
• Open wounds, deformity, swelling, instability, crepitus
• Test of compartment syndrome
• Vascular assessment; API and ABI
• Distal pulses
• Assessment and monitoring of soft tissue swelling
Radiology
• Plain X-Ray:
• Supine AP and lateral view for all patients
• Internal and external oblique view
• Obtain contralateral AP and Lateral (compare)
• Tibial plateau view: AP with knee extended and beam directed
15 degrees caudally
• CT scan:
• increases the diagnostic accuracy
• indicated in cases of articular depression
• shown to increase the interobserver and intraobserver
agreement on classification in tibial plateau fractures
• excellent adjuncts in the preoperative planning
Radiology
• MRI:
• alternative to CT scan or arthroscopy
• osseous as well as the soft tissue components of the injury
• cost prohibitive for use in standard situations
• Type IV:
– requires a medial buttress plate to counteract the shear
forces acting on the medial plateau
– lag screws alone are not sufficient to stabilize these
fractures
Operative treatment
• Type V:
– locking plates, laterally placed plates with screws that
lock to the plate creating a fixed angle construct provide
enough stability to counteract forces seen by the medial
tibial plateau.
Operative treatment
• Type VI:
– Following articular reconstruction, the articular segment
has historically been stabilized to the tibial shaft using a
single plate, double plates, a single plate and a
contralateral two-pin external fixator, or a thin-wire
fixator. If the fracture is transverse, a single plate will
suffice. Oblique fracture lines exiting the opposite cortex
require a second plate or external fixator to resist shearing
forces.
Complications
• Early:
– most commonly is infection (3 – 38 %)
• Superficial
• Deep
– Thromboembolic complication (DVT, PE)
• Late:
– Painful hardware
– Loss of fixation
– Posttraumatic arthritis
– malunion