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Fracture, Tibial Plateau, Sports Medicine

Ramon Ylanan, MD, CAQSM and Larry Balle, II, MD, MPH Reviewed 04/2019
 


BASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Fracture and/or depression of the proximal tibial articulating surface 1

  • Largest and most kinematically complex joint 2

  • Also referred to as tibial condylar fractures

  • Mechanism of injury...

DIAGNOSIS

HISTORY

  • Mechanism of injury important in diagnosis

  • High-energy injuries5:

    • Pedestrian struck in the lower leg by an automobile

    • Passenger in motor vehicle collision

    • Fall from a height resulting in ...

TREATMENT

GENERAL MEASURES

  • Airway, breathing, and circulation (ABCs)/advanced trauma life support (ATLS) protocol in multiple trauma victim

  • Long-leg splint

  • Ice

  • Elevation

  • Emergency department (ED)/clinic ma...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

Patient Monitoring

  • Nonoperative treatment: biweekly follow-up initially with x-rays to evaluate fracture

  • If knee is unstable, early follow-up with orthopedics to ev...

REFERENCES

1
Millar SC, Arnold JB, Thewlis D, et al. A systematic literature review of tibial plateau fractures: what classifications are used and how reliable and useful are they? Injury.  2018;4...

ADDITIONAL READING

  • Blokker CP, Rorabeck CH, Bourne RB. Tibial plateau fractures. An analysis of the results of treatment in 60 patients. Clin Orthop Relat Res.  1984;(182):193–199.

  • Rang M. Childre...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Mechanism of injury important in diagnosis: high-energy axial force with coronal force component

  • Lateral tibial plateau more commonly injured

  • X-rays—AP, lateral, and obliques

  • Schatzker ty...

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