Abstract: Background: Knee joint is the major weight bearing joints in the lower extremity. Proximal tibial fractures are commonest intra-articular fractures. As more and more concepts about biological fixation become clearer the innovation of plates progressed and lead to the development of less invasive stabilizing system. Research to combine these two methods has led to the development of the anatomically contoured locking compression plate. This new system is technically mature as it offers numerous fixation possibilities and has proven to worth in complex fracture situations and in osteoporotic bones.
Objectives:To evaluate union and complications following three column locking compression plate reconstruction for treating tibial plateau fractures in a tertiary care centre in South India.
Methods: This study was a prospective study done on 34 consenting cases of proximal tibial fractures admitted to the Department of Orthopaedics, and underwent surgical treatment for tibial plateau fractures at M S Ramaiah Hospitals, Bengaluru. The patients were chosen based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results were evaluated by fracture union on X ray and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.
Results: In the present males were, 97%, most patients belonged to the category 40-50 years (14 patients, 41.18%). The mean age was 39 years. vehicular accident (27 patients, 79%). right sided injury (24 patients, 69.38%), type of Schatzker's fracture type VI (29 patients, 85.2%), followed by Type IV 4 patients 11.76%, the 34 cases in the study most patients were fixed by LCP plates. on evaluation of the final outcome of the fracture most patients had excellent results (24, 70.58%) and only one case had poor result because of delayed and non-union.
Conclusion: Three-column fixation is a new fixation concept in treating complex tibial plateau fractures, which is especially useful for multiplanar fractures involving the posterior column. The combination of posterior and anterior-lateral approaches is a safe and effective way to have direct reduction and satisfactory fixation for such difficult tibial plateau fractures.
