title: Return to sports activity after tibial plateau fractures: 89 cases with minimum 24-month follow-up.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tibial plateau fractures requiring surgery are severe injuries. For professionals, amateurs, and recreational athletes, tibial plateau fractures might affect leisure and professional life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Athletic patients will be affected in their sporting activity after a tibial plateau fracture. Despite a long rehabilitation time and program, physical activity will change to low-impact sports.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series; Level of evidence, 4.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 89 consecutive patients (age range, 14-76 years) were included in the study and were surveyed by a questionnaire. Inclusion criteria were surgical treatment of tibial plateau fractures between 2003 and 2009 with a minimum follow-up of 24 months. The sporting activity was determined at the time of injury, 1 year postoperatively, and at the time of the survey at an average of 52.8 months postoperatively. The clinical evaluation included the Lysholm score, the Tegner activity scale, the activity rating scale (ARS), and a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain perception. Fractures were classified and analyzed using both the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen (AO) and the Schatzker classifications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the time of injury, 88.8% of all patients were engaged in sports compared with 62.9% 1 year postoperatively and 73.0% at the time of the survey. Of the professional or competitive athletes (n = 11 at the time of injury), only 2 returned to competition at the time of the survey. The number of different sporting activities declined from 4.9 at the time of injury to 3.6 at the time of the survey (P < .001). The sports frequency and the activity duration per week, being 2.8 sessions and 4.5 hours at the time of injury, respectively, declined to 2.4 sessions and 3.8 hours (P < .001 and P = .007, respectively) at the time of the survey, respectively. The Lysholm score (98.7 points before accident) and the VAS for pain perception (0.2 before accident) illustrated significant declines to 76.6 points for the Lysholm score and 2.6 for the VAS (P < .001 and P < .001, respectively) at the time of the survey. The high-energy traumas, Schatzker IV to VI, had significant worse results in the clinical scores compared with the low-energy traumas (Lysholm, P < .001; Tegner, P = .027).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of patients could not return to their previous level of activity, and for patients playing competitive sports, this injury can be a career ender. Overall, we noticed a postinjury shift toward activities with less impact. However, at the time of the survey, 73% of all patients were engaged in sports.
authors.affiliation: Department of Traumatology and Reconstructive Surgery, BG Traumacenter Tübingen, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany. kraus.tobias@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tobias M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martetschläger
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Karl F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ahrens
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siebenlist
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stöckle
authors.forename: Gunther H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Sandmann
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008022:Ligaments / Q000293:injuries; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012865:Skiing / Q000293:injuries; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult