Primary repair of posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture: the effect of occult injury in the midsubstance on postoperative instability.
BACKGROUND
In the posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture, posterior instability cannot be completely restored by the anatomical reduction and fixation of an avulsed fragment.


OBJECTIVE
The occult midsubstance injury inside the posterior cruciate ligament may affect the residual posterior instability after anatomical reduction and internal fixation of the avulsed fragment.


METHODS
Prospective comparative clinical study.


METHODS
Thirty-one patients were followed for a period of 2 to 8 years. Based on magnetic resonance images taken immediately after the injury, these patients were divided into 2 groups, the occult injury group (group O, 15 knees) and the uninjured group (group N, 16 knees).


RESULTS
The side-to-side difference of the posterior knee instability was 3.2 mm in group O and 3.0 mm in group N. Approximately 60% of the knees examined showed mild posterior instability in both groups. There were no significant differences found between the 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The occult posterior cruciate ligament midsubstance injury does not significantly affect postoperative posterior instability of the knee. This fact did not support the hypothesis that has been commonly considered thus far.


CONCLUSIONS
It is not necessary for orthopaedic surgeons to be overly apprehensive about occult midsubstance injury in the treatment of posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture.
Inoue
Masayuki
M
NTT East Japan Sapporo Hospital, Japan. inomasa@rose.ocn.ne.jp
Yasuda
Kazunori
K
Kondo
Eiji
E
Saito
Katsutoshi
K
Ishibe
Motomi
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001182:Arthroscopy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016119:Posterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome