Factors related to functional recovery of the knee following surgery for the supracondylar femoral fractures from 2008 through 2011 at the Third Affiliated Hospital to Hebei Medical University

Abstract

Objective To analyze the factors related to functional recovery of the knee joint following surgery for the supracondylar femoral fractures between 2008 January and 2011 December at our hospital.Methods Complete clinical data of 105 eligible patients who had undergone surgery for supracondylar femoral fracture between 2008 January and 2011 December at our hospital were collected through the PACS system and case reports checking system.They were 60 men and 45 women,with an average age of 41.4 years.By AO classification,19 cases were of A1,23 cases of A2,and 63 cases of A3 type.To identify the major factors,multiple linear regression was used to analyze the 22 factors that might have influenced functional recovery of the knee joint,such as age,gender,occupation,resident location,season,affected side,AO type,combined injury,in-hospital time,injury mechanism,preoperative concomitant disease,osteoporosis,interval from injury to surgery,operative approach,reduction method,and internal fixation method.Results This cohort was followed up from 2 to 6 years (average,3.7 years).The knee functional scores at the last follow-up averaged 144.7 points.Single factor analysis revealed that age,injury mechanism,reduction method,internal fixation method,postoperative non-weight-bearing ambulation time,AO type,osteoporosis,continuous passive motion exercise,and combined injury rendered a significant difference in knee functional scores (P ＜ 0.05).Multiple linear regression yielded a regression equation of Y=186.87-21.74 postoperative non-weight-bearing ambulation time-7.23 AO type-19.59 age + 10.30 osteoporosis + 10.68 combined injury.The factors that influenced the knee functional recovery from the most to the least were postoperative non-weight-bearing ambulation time,age,AO type,combined injury and osteoporosis.Conclusion The patients with senior age,complicated fracture,severe combined injury,osteoporosis and late postoperative ambulation had poor functional recovery of the knee joint. Key words: Femoral fractures; Recovery of function; Epidemiologic factors; Regression analysis