Floating knee injuries - An Analysis of Outcome in Surgically Treated Patients in a Tertiary Care Institution

Abstract

Background: Floating knee injuries are not uncommon and they occur due to high velocity trauma and are usually associated with other injuries. Early intervention in the form of internal fixation of both the femur and tibia usually results in better functional outcome. The present study was conducted with an aim to analyze the factors influencing the functional outcome of patients with ipsilateral femur and tibia fractures using Karlstrom and Olerud’s criteria.
 Methodology: 
 Patients aged more than 18 years of age of both sexes who were clinically and radiologically diagnosed with floating knee injuries were included as our study subjects. A total of 48 patients were taken as study sample. Classification of floating knee injuries was made according to Blake and McBryde’s classification. Fixation of femur was done before fixing the tibia. Anterograde and retrograde intramedullary nailing along with condylar plates were used for internal fixation of femur or tibia. 
 Results: 
 According to Blake and Mc Bryde fracture classification, 19 patients belong to type I, 22 patients had type II A fracture and 7 had type II B fracture. Head injury followed by chest and abdominal trauma are the most common associated injuries. The mean duration of tibial bone union was 22 weeks and for femur it was 26 weeks. Functional outcome assessment was made using Karlstorm and Olerud’s criteria. Majority of the patients with Type I fracture had excellent or good outcome, whereas patients with type IIA or IIB fractures had acceptable or good outcome. 
 Conclusion: 
 The present study revealed that early surgical intervention is the key factor in the management of floating knee injuries which when done the functional outcome was found to be good.