Journal of Bone Research
Open Access

Abstract

Arthroscopically Assisted Fixation of the Tibial Plateau Fractures

Konstantinos Tilkeridis, Georgios Kiziridis, Stylianos Tottas, Ioannis Kougioumtzis, Georgios Riziotis, Georgios Drosos and Athanasios Ververidis

Objectives: To consolidate the current literature and find the evidence of any advantages of the use of the above mentioned techniques and also to emphasize the need for well-designed studies to evaluate long- and short-term function and risk of posttraumatic osteoarthritis in arthroscopically-assisted treated patients.
Background: The role of arthroscopy in the fixation of tibial plateau fractures has been advocated in the literature in the last decades. A number of papers have been published regarding Arthroscopically Assisted Internal Fixation (mainly) and Arthroscopically Assisted External Fixation (significantly smaller amount of papers) of tibial plateau fractures.
Materials and Methods: 29 studies including 983 patients were identified via Pubmed search. Most of them are small studies, poorly controlled and with potential bias.
Results: Despite the small amount of studies comparing ARIF with ORIF technique and studies with an average follow up longer than 3 years), the advocates of ARIF suggest, that this technique can have a key role in the management of tibial plateau fractures and is the treatment of choice for associated intra-articular pathology. Nevertheless, most of these studies, if not all, are selected, small studies, poorly controlled and with potential bias.
Conclusions: There is a need for well-designed studies to evaluate long- and short-term function and risk of posttraumatic osteoarthritis in arthroscopically-assisted treated patients.