title: Treatment of comminuted patellar fracture with the nitinol patellar concentrator.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the clinical effect of the nitinol (NiTi)-patellar concentrator (NT-PC) for the treatment of comminuted patellar fractures.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 32 patients with acute comminuted patellar fracture accepted open reduction and internal fixation with the NT-PC, and the curative effects were evaluated using the Böstman clinical grading scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All fractures were anatomically reduced by surgery and all cases were followed-up for six to 18 months. The mean score of patients according to the Böstman clinical grading scale was 25.6, with 29 of 32 (90.7%) patients achieving excellent or good results. Two patients had traumatic arthritis, one had slippage of the NT-PC, and all patients received pharmacotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of the NT-PC is a satisfactory approach to the treatment of comminuted patellar fractures.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopaedics , Wuxi People 's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University , Wuxi City , Jiangsu Province , China ;
authors.forename: Quan-ming
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: b Department of Orthopaedics , The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University , Suzhou , China ;
authors.forename: Hui-lin
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopaedics , Wuxi People 's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University , Wuxi City , Jiangsu Province , China ;
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: c Department of Orthopaedics , Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Zhong-tang
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopaedics , Wuxi People 's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University , Wuxi City , Jiangsu Province , China ;
authors.forename: Xiao-feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000497:Alloys; D001168:Arthritis / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D018460:Fractures, Comminuted / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010329:Patella / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000497:Alloys; C013616:nitinol
keywords: Böstman clinical grading scale; Patellar fracture; patellar concentrator