Abstract
PurposeApproximately, 50 persons per 100,000 per year sustain a tibial fracture. There is, however, a lack of large cohort studies that describe the treatment and re-operation frequencies of tibial fractures. The aim of this study was to describe the treatment and re-operation rates of tibial fractures in all segments of the tibia.MethodsData related to all patients aged 16 and above treated for tibial fractures (ICD-10 S82.10-31) at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in 2011–2015 were extracted from the Swedish Fracture Register. To make sure all re-operations were included in the study, the operation planning system was checked for all patients included in the study.ResultsThe study comprised 1371 tibial fractures − 712 proximal, 417 diaphyseal and 242 distal tibial fractures. Among the proximal and distal tibial fractures, plate fixation was the most commonly used surgical method, whereas among tibial shaft fractures, an intramedullary nail was the most commonly used surgical method. Almost 30% (29.8%) of all surgically treated tibial fractures underwent re-operation. Among proximal tibial fractures, 24.0% underwent re-operation; tibial shaft fractures 37.0% and distal tibial fractures 26.8%. Re-operations due to infection were more or less equally common in all segments (3.9–5.4%).ConclusionThis study describes the treatment and re-operation rates after tibial fractures in a cohort of 1371 tibial fractures at Sahlgrenska University Hospital during a period of 5 years. The study shows an overall re-operation rate of 29.8% for fractures in all segments of the tibia.
Highlights
50 persons per 100,000 and year sustain a tibial fracture [1]
Nineteen tibial fractures were primarily assigned to non-surgical treatment, but, at an early stage, they were converted to surgical treatment after non-surgical treatment was considered inappropriate, e.g. due to a more severe dislocation found at an early x-ray check-up (“Surgical treatment after failed non-surgical treatment”) (Table 1)
When reviewing the specific fracture classes, in 10 of 27 fracture classes, more than 75% of the fractures were treated with one specific treatment method and, in 20 of 27 fracture classes, more than 60% are treated with one specific treatment method
Summary
50 persons per 100,000 and year sustain a tibial fracture [1]. During the past 20 years, the treatment of tibial fractures has evolved. New opportunities with anatomic plates and modern intramedullary nails have been developed. There is, a lack of large cohort studies that describe the treatment and re-operation frequencies of tibial fractures in everyday practice. A few recent studies of different aspects of specific types of tibial fracture have reported re-operation rates after the treatment of tibial fractures [2,3,4,5,6]. To the best of our knowledge, there is, no previous register-based study that describes the treatment and re-operation rates for fractures in all segments of the tibia
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