Arthroscopic Treatment of Fractures of the Intercondylar Eminence of the Tibia Using Pull-Out Wire

견인강선을 이용한 경골극 견열 골절의 관절경적 치료

Recently, a variety of arthroscopic techniques have been reported for the treatment of the displaced tibial eminence fracture. The purpose of this study was to describe details of arthroscopic technique using pull-out wire and to evaluate the results. Eleven patients with irreducible type II and type III tibial eminence fractures underwent the arthroscopic reduction and internal fixation using double strand pull-out wiring. The anterior cruciate ligament tibial drill guide was utilized for the reduction of fracture and passage of the guide pins. The tibial eminence fracture was firmly fixed with double strand 26-gauge pull-out wire(0.45mm diameter). Fracture union was achieved at 7.2 weeks (range, six to eight weeks) after operation. All cases were united at the last follow-up. Subjectively, nine patients had no pain and no restriction of daily activities. Two patients with combined injuries had limitation of knee motion(10 to 130 degrees, respectively) and one patient showed mild anterior laxity. Early rehabilitation was enabled without loss of reduction and breakage of pull-out wire. The arthroscopic reduction and internal fixation using pull-out wire showed good results including early rehabilitation, early fracture union, minimal morbidity, and no requirement of the second operation for hard ware removal.