Effect of patient factors and procedure on proximal tibia fracture recovery - A retrospective analysis

Tibia plateau fractures account for 1-2% of all fractures and might adversely affect the knee joint. The current research aimed to evaluate the effect of surgical procedures, age, and gender on proximal tibia fracture functional outcomes.

The present data for the retrospective analysis was obtained from an observational longitudinal cohort trauma registry study, initiated at a tertiary care hospital in June 2015. A total of 51 isolated tibia plateau fracture patients were routinely treated with open reduction internal fixation or external fixator and assessed for functional outcomes till twelve months by the Rasmussen scoring scale. Patients were divided into five age groups. The functional outcome association to gender, age groups, and surgical procedures was assessed by the Fisher Exact test and logistic regression analysis.

The mean age of the total 51 patients was 40±11 years. Patients operated with Open Reduction and Internal Fixation (74.5%) or with an external fixator (25.5%). Road traffic accidents were the common mechanism of injury. There were non-significantly different functional outcomes observed among age groups or between surgical procedures at all follow-ups but significantly different between genders at three-month follow-ups. Males recovered better than females (p=0.02).

Tibia Plateau fracture patients respond almost equally to both external fixation and Open Reduction Internal Fixation procedures. Age does not influence the outcome. However, males had better functional outcomes at three months post-surgery indicating that gender could affect the outcomes. Further exploration might assist in planning gender-based proximal tibia fracture treatment strategies for optimum outcomes.