title: The degree of articular depression as a predictor of soft-tissue injuries in tibial plateau fracture.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides sufficient information with regard to specific soft-tissue injuries in the knee, but it is not generally used to evaluate acute tibial plateau fractures. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the amount of tibial plateau fracture depression on multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scans correlates with the incidence of associated soft-tissue injuries on MRI.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 54 consecutive patients with a mean age of 51.2 years (SD = 18.3) were included in this retrospective study. All patients were admitted to the emergency department of a university clinic with acute tibial plateau fracture. The amount of articular depression was assessed from MDCT scans. Magnetic resonance images were evaluated for crucial and collateral ligament injury, meniscal tears, and patellar retinaculum lesions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Logistic regression revealed a significant impact of increasing tibial plateau fracture depression on the incidence of meniscus lateralis tears (P = 0.025) and anterior cruciate ligament lesions (P = 0.018). Analysis of covariance demonstrated a significant correlation between the amount of articular depression and absolute number of soft-tissue injuries (P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Articular depression is a potential predictor of specific meniscal and ligamentous injuries in acute tibial plateau fracture. Magnetic resonance imaging is generally recommended with respect to associated soft-tissue injuries, especially in cases with distinct tibial plateau fracture depression on multi-detector computed tomography scans.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series, Level IV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma-, Hand-, and Reconstructive Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. aspiro@uke.de
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Spiro
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Regier
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Novo de Oliveira
authors.forename: Eik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vettorazzi
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Jan Philipp
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Frank Oliver
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Henes
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Demuth
authors.forename: Johannes M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rueger
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lehmann
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000175:diagnosis*