Tibial Plateau Fracture Subluxation: An Effective Intraoperative Technique for the Reduction of Knee Joint Subluxation and Associated Medial Tibial Condyle Fragments

Abstract

Knee subluxation or dislocation is an import associated component of many tibial plateau fracture patterns. Anatomic reduction of such tibial plateau fracture subluxation injuries requires reduction of both the associated fracture and the associated subluxation. Use of the femoral distractor in these situations will regain length, but holds the knee in relative fixed extension. A posterior approach increases the size of the incision and the dissection posteriorly while keeping the neurovascular structures on stretch. Described herein is an alternate technique to simply and effectively reduce tibial plateau fracture subluxations using periarticular clamps. Twenty-one patients with 1-year follow-up with successful outcomes have benefitted from this reduction technical tip thus far.