title: Operative treatment of distal femoral fractures above total knee arthroplasty with the indirect reduction technique: a long-term follow-up study.
abstract: The complication rate of conventional plate osteosynthesis (CPO) of periprosthetic femoral fractures above total knee arthroplasties (TKA) is high. Indirect reduction techniques were introduced to reduce surgical dissection at the fracture site. Twenty-one patients (4 men and 17 women) with femoral fractures above well-fixed total knee arthroplasties were consecutively treated with the indirect reduction technique. AO/ASIF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen/Association for the Study of the Problems of Internal Fixation) Type 33A fractures were included. The mean age was 78 years (range, 67-94 years). Four fractures were stabilised with bone grafts, three in combination with bone cement. Nineteen of the patients were seen at a 1-year follow-up, 15 were seen after a long-term follow-up of 9 years (range, 7-12 years). There was only one implant failure in a comminuted fracture with severe osteoporosis, no infection, and no non-union. At the 1-year follow-up malalignment of 5 degrees varus occurred in one patient. The mean range of motion of the eighteen patients was 98 degrees (range, 65-110 degrees). The mean knee society score was 74 (range, 62-84), the mean function score was 52 (range, 39-72). At the long-term follow-up, the mean range of motion of the patients was 101 degrees (range, 65-115 degrees). The mean knee society score was 77 (range, 65-88), the mean function score was 55 (range, 40-75). Our results suggest the 95 degrees condylar blade plate in the indirect reduction technique is still a good implant with good long-term results. It works best in proximal fractures when there is minimal comminution of the distal fragment in the hands of an experienced trauma surgeon. Knee function and range of motion increased less over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma Surgery, Katharinenhospital Stuttgart, Kriegsbergstr. 60, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany. mpkr3@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kolb
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Holz
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grützner
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kolb
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D001860:Bone Plates; D005260:Female; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000379:methods*; D017102:Fracture Healing; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D016896:Treatment Outcome