A Sleeve Fracture of the patella in a child

Abstract

A case: On March 27 1979, an eleven year old boy sustained injury to the right knee when he fell suddenly on the ground, leading with the right leg while riding on a bicycle.On the day he visited our clinic, there was a moderate effusion of the knee, the right patella was high level and a gap was palpated at the lower end of the patella.The lateral radiogragh showed a small bony avulsion. The operative finding showed that the avulsion fragment consisted of a large sleeve of the articular cartilage and small fragment of bone.The fragment was reduced ad fixed by a wire.In December 1979, the radiogragh showed a subchondral defect in the central area of the patellar articular surface, and arthroscopically, mild fibrillation was found.