Effect analysis of pull-out wire on patellar layered fracture

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of pull-out wire in the treatment of patellar layered fracture. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of patients with patellar fracture admitted to No. 971 Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army(PLA). The inclusion criteria included age less than 60 years, closed fracture, layered displacement of patellar fracture confirmed by CT examination, and postoperative follow-up over two years. The patients with complicated neurovascular and ligament injury were excluded, and a total of six patients with patella layered fractures were enrolled in this study (five patients treated with pull-out wire and K- wire tension band fixation; one patient treated with pull-out wire and cannulated screw) . There were four males and two females with a mean age of (40.0±2.0) years. Two cases of type IV fracture and four type V fractures were classified according to Rookwood classification. Evaluation of the efficacy according to the score standard of Xu Shaoting. Results All the patients were followed up for(24.0±1.5)months. Clinical healing in all the patients were achieved at two months. Infection and implant breakage did not occurred during follow-up. Two cases had occasional pain during knee activity; one case had irritation, and then relieved after withdrawal of the internal fixation. Radiograph showed that one case had heterotopic ossification but no post-traumatic arthritis occurred in all patients at the last follow-up. There were four excellent and two good according to the score standard of Xu Shaoting. Conclusion The pull-out wire technique in the treatment of patellar layered fracture which is rare and easy to misdiagnosed in clinic, represents simple and convenient, and it can be attempted to apply in this complex fractures. Key words: Patella; Fracture fixation, internal; Bone wires