title: Total knee arthroplasty after complex tibial plateau fractures.
abstract: Total knee arthroplasty following complex fractures of the tibial plateau is considered a challenge for orthopaedic surgeons and clinical outcomes may vary. A total of 29 total knee replacements were performed after a tibial plateau fracture: 25 patients (16 women, 9 men; average age: 57 years; mean follow-up: 92 months) were available. We had two significative complications: one partial avulsion of the patellar tendon, conservatively treated by bracing, and one case of deep venous thromboembolism, managed with low molecular weight heparin. In two cases (8%) there was a failure of the implant; nine cases were excellent, nine good, four fair and one poor. A percentage of patients with previous complex proximal tibia fractures had an increased rate of postoperative complications due to anatomical deformity, functional deficiency and post-traumatic arthritis and required solutions similar to revision surgery. Total knee arthroplasty is a suitable solution for the treatment of these challenging cases: compared to primary knee replacement, final KSS score is generally lower, but improvement is similar due to poorer pre-operative scores.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Plastic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Orthopaedic Traumatologic Center, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Civinini
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carulli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matassi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Innocenti
mesh_terms: D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013978:Tibial Fractures; D016896:Treatment Outcome