Tibial plateau fractures occur frequently during downhill skiing. There is a lack of information about the outcome and development of posttraumatic osteoarthritis after internal fixation of such fractures at long-term follow-up in skiers.
A population of 83 skiers was followed up in a case series after internal fixation of intra-articular tibial plateau fractures AO-OTA 41 B1-B3 and C1-C3. Functional outcomes Visual Analog Scale, Tegner Activity Scale, Modified Lysholm Score, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Knee Score and X-ray images of the affected knees (preoperative, postoperative and at time of follow-up) were obtained. Radiological evaluation focused on severity of osteoarthritis according to the Kellgren and Lawrence score of the lateral, medial and retropatellar knee compartments separately. Subgroup analyses for fracture type and age were performed separately.
Patients age was 49.8 ± 12.9 years (range 19-74 years) at the time of surgery, with a mean follow-up period of 10.3 ± 1.9 years (range 6-14 years). All tibial plateau fractures affected the lateral compartment, while the medial compartment was affected in addition as part of bicondylar fractures in two cases. Both the Tegener Activity Scale and Lysholm Score decreased significantly during the follow-up period and their median values dropped from 6 (range 3-7) to 5 (range 2-7) and from 100 (range 90-100) to 95 (range 58-100), respectively (both p < .01). The median clinical knee function at the time of follow-up revealed an HSS Knee Score of 96.5 points (range 74-100). Among the whole patient population, the radiological evaluation at follow-up revealed a significantly higher grade of osteoarthritis in all compartments of the knee joint compared to the time of the operation (p < .01). The grade of osteoarthritis in the lateral compartment was significantly higher than that in the medial and retropatellar compartments (p < .01).
In addition to physiologic aging, progression of radiologic signs of osteoarthritis following internal fixation of intra-articular tibial plateau fractures in an athletic population of skiers is most severe in the lateral knee compartment corresponding to fracture location. However, the long-term functional outcomes seem to be very satisfactory.