Outcome assessment of locking plate osteosynthesis for proximal tibia fractures.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the functional outcome of osteosynthesis of tibial plateau fractures using different surgical techniques after a minimum period of 6 months by using Rasmussen scoring system. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted for a period of two years. The study was started after getting approval from the institutional ethical committee and the informed consent was obtained from all the study subjects involved in our study. All patients with proximal tibial fracture in the age group between 20 and 60 years were included as our study subjects. Patients presented with neurovascular injuries were excluded from the study and a total of 100 patients satisfying our inclusion and exclusion criteria were taken as our study subjects. Results: In our study majority of the study patients were in the age group between 30 and 50 years with more males as compared to females. The type of tibial plateau fracture was classified as per Schatzker classification. In the present study, it was shown that type II tibial plateau fracture (38%) was the most common type followed by type VI fracture (21%) and type V (15%) and the incidence of type I, and III was 10%, type IV was 6%. In our study for patients with type I tibial plateau fractures closed reduction with cancellous screw fixation was performed for all the patients, among patients with type II fractures open reduction with internal fixation along with elevation plateau and buttress plating was done for majority of the subjects and patients with type II fractures bone grafting was done along with this procedure and a similar type of procedure was performed for patients with type III, IV and V tibial plateau fractures. ORIF with dual plating was performed for majority of the patients with type VI fractures. Conclusion: In the management of tibial plateau fractures, open reduction with internal fixation using plate screws with lesser soft tissue dissection would lead to excellent functional outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]