Tension band versus locking plate fixation for patella fractures - a protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Following surgical management of patella fractures, patients commonly report pain; difficulties with weight-bearing tasks such as walking, running and climbing stairs; and restrictions in quality of life. Recently, a locking plate system for surgical management of patella fractures has been introduced. To date, no studies have compared standard treatment with tension band wiring with locking plate fixation in a randomised study design. We aim to compare the one-year patient-reported Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome subscale scores (KOOS5-subscales) after standard care tension band fixation with locking plate fixation for patients with patella fractures.
Methods: This is a multicentre randomised and prospective clinical trial. A total of 122 patients will be included in the study, and the primary outcome will be the KOOS subscales at 12 months after surgery.
Conclusions: Findings from the present study are expected to advance our understanding of outcome following surgical treatment of patella fractures.
Funding: This study is funded, in part, by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Denmark.
Clinicaltrials: gov ID: NCT04891549.
(Published under Open Access CC-BY-NC-BD 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)