Triple-incision treatment of the posterior condylar triad in the lateral prone position.

Abstract

Background: Posterior tibial plateau bicondylar fracture combined with anterior cruciate ligament injury, also known as the "Posterior Condylar Triad", is a regular combination injury. The traditional surgical strategy involves first fixing the posterior condyle in the prone position and then treating the anterior cruciate ligament avulsion injury after the patient turns over. This surgical strategy is cumbersome, requires multiple surgical preparations, prolongs the surgical time, and increases the patient's risk. Our centre proposed one lateral prone position with three incisions to treat the "Posterior Condylar Triad".

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 11 "Posterior Condylar Triad" patients who underwent surgical treatment at our centre from February 2017 to August 2020. Using a unified surgical strategy, the patient rotates the limb in a lateral prone position. The posterior condyle fracture of the tibial plateau is treated through a posterior medial incision and posterior lateral Frosch approach. Finally, anterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture is treated through a small incision on the medial side of the patella. All patients were encouraged to perform functional exercises of the knee joint early after surgery. The postoperative complications (deep vein thrombosis, poor wound healing, deep infection, internal fixation failure and fracture reduction loss) and knee joint function (knee joint range of motion, Lysholm score and SF36 scale) of the patients were recorded 1 year after surgery.

Results: All patients' fractures healed smoothly, with an average fracture healing time of 17.0 weeks, ranging from 12 to 22 weeks. There were 2 patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after the operation. One patient experienced wound fat liquefaction, and no patients reported serious complications, such as loss of fracture reduction, failure of internal fixation, or deep infection. One year after surgery, the average range of motion (ROM) of the affected limb's knee joint was 3.6-120.5°, the average Lysholm score was 86.7, ranging from 61 to 100, and the average SF36 score was 76.96, with a range of 52.45-94.75.

Conclusion: The "Posterior Condylar Triad" is a serious injury, and our proposed surgical strategy can simplify the surgical process, avoid large-scale changes in patient position during surgery, shorten surgical time, and reduce the risk of surgical anaesthesia, enabling patients to achieve good clinical prognosis.