To investigate the clinical efficacy of minimally invasive plate oseoynthesis (MIPO) assisted by a self-designed lower limb axial tractor in the treatment of complex tibial plateau fractures.

The data were retrospectively analyzed of the 31 patients who had undergone surgical treatment for complex tibial plateau fractures from June 2015 to April 2018 at Department of Orthopeadics, Hospital Affiliated to Binzhou Medical College. MIPO was conducted with the assistance of the axial tractor in 17 of them. They were 12 men and 5 women with an age of 50.8±14.7 years, with 8 cases of Schatzker type Ⅴ and 9 ones of Schatzker type Ⅵ. MIPO was conducted without the assistance of the axial tractor but with the assistance of manipulation reduction in the other 14 patients. They were 9 men and 5 women with an age of 48.9±9.5 years, with 6 cases of Schatzker type Ⅴ and 8 ones of Schatzker type Ⅵ. The 2 groups were compared in terms of operation time, intraoperative bleeding, and Rasmussen scores for knee function and medial angle of the proximal tibia at the last follow-up.

The 2 groups were comparable due to insignificant differences in the preoperative general data between them (P>0.05). The tractor and manipulation groups were followed up for a mean of 9.8 months and 10.9 months respectively. Bone healing was achieved in all patients. For the tractor and manipulation groups, respectively, the operation time was127.8±40.8 min and 174.1±66.8 min, and the intraoperative bleeding 115.6±41.7 mL and 184.3±91.4 mL, showing significant differences between them (P<0.05). In the tractor group at the last follow-up, the knee flexion was 126.1°±9.3°, the medial angle of the proximal tibial 87.8°±1.4°, the posterior inclination angle 8.7°±3.8° and the Rasmussen score 26.5±2.9 points; in the manipulation group at the final follow-up, the knee flexion was 124.7°±8.9°, the medial angle of the proximal tibial 86.9°±2.1°, the posterior inclination angle 9.8°±4.1° and the Rasmussen score 25.6±3.2 points. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the above items (P>0.05). Loss of force line was observed in none of the patients at the last follow-up.

Compared with conventional manipulation reduction, use of our self-designed lower limb axial tractor can shorten operation time, reduce bleeding and facilitate reduction of fracture fragments in the treatment of tibial plateau fractures of Schatzker types Ⅴ and Ⅵ.

Knee joint; Fracture fixation, internal; Surgerical procedures, minimally invasive; Traction; Tibial plateau fracture