Surgical Treatment of Vertical Compressed Tibial Plateau Fracture with Temporary External Fixation Brace Combined with MIPPO Technique

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the clinical effects of a temporary external fixation brace in conjunction with the minimally invasive percutaneous plate osteosynthesis (MIPPO) technique of vertical compressed tibial plateau fractures. A retrospective analysis of 12 patients with tibial plateau fractures with vertical compression changes from October 2019 to October 2020 was performed. All patients were treated with a temporary external fixator to correct the vertical shortening deformity, and then the MIPPO technique was used after reduction. All patients had satisfactory fracture reduction on postoperative imaging. The average operative time was 112.92 ± 21.47min, the times of fluoroscopy were 15.75 ± 3.16, the blood loss was 65.83 ± 10.82ml, the length of hospital stay was 12.92 ± 5.35 days, the average fracture healing time was 10.41 ± 1.5 weeks. The mean follow-up time was 23.75 ± 2.93 months. At the last follow-up, in 12 patients, the Rasmussen anatomical score was excellent in 9 patients (75.0%), good in 2 patients (16.7%), and fair in 1 patient (8.3%). The HSS score was 65.25 ± 3.31 after 1 month, 81.92 ± 1.69 after 6 months, 87.83 ± 1.41 after 1 year, and 92.25 ± 1.16 after last follow-up ( F = 13.001, P༜0.001 ). No complications occurred in all patients during the follow-up period. For vertically compressed fractures of the tibial plateau, the use of temporary external fixators combined with the MIPPO technique can reach better correct the displacement of the vertically compressed, reducing soft tissue damage and the difficulty of surgical reduction, which is conducive to the recovery of joint function.