A Clinical Study of the Tibial Condylar Fracture

The knee joint is one of the major weight bearing joint in the body, and is frequently injured because of its complex motion despite of a simple bony architecture. In the fracture of the tibial condyle the injuries of soft tissues such as ligaments and menisci are frectuently accompanied, and the weight bearing surface is involved. So it often produces a disability of the knee joint. Forty-seven consecutive cases of the tibial condylar fracture treated at the orthopaedic department of the Hallym Medical College from 1982 to 1985 have been analyzed according to its type, radiologic diagnosis, treatment, and end results. The conclusions are; 1. The tomography is important in the decision of the treatment method by the accurate measurement of the extent of depression and displacement. 2. The poor results are usually caused by a severe comminution and some associated injuries such as menisus tear, open wound, and rupture of ligamentum patellae etc. 3. The better results can be obtained with the treatment of early exercise within 6 weeks, of weight bearing between 12-20 weeks, and in surgical cases, within 2 weeks and with a bone graft.