Role of suture anchors in management of fractures of inferior pole of patella

Abstract

Background: The traditional recommendation for displaced comminuted inferior pole fractures is excision of the comminuted pole followed by reattachment of the patellar tendon with transosseous suture. To the best of our knowledge there has been no previous published study mentioning the use of suture anchors for fracture inferior pole of patella. We present a retrospective analysis of five cases of patients doing well at final follow-up of two years. Materials and Methods: Five patients treated at our institute using suture anchors for repair of comminuted inferior pole fractures of patella between January 2007 to March 2007. (range 28 years-55 years). There were three males and two females. Results: The average follow-up was 25 months (range 24 months-26 months). The patients were evaluated for range of motion, strength, patellofemoral scores and any alteration of patellar height. The outcome of the procedure was assessed with use of the patellofemoral scoring system of Noyes et al, ⁵ as adapted by Saltzman et al. ⁶ The final patellofemoral score (maximum 100 points) was 94.6 (range 93-96). Conclusion: We believe it is a novel extended indication of the use of suture anchors and should be in the armament of every trauma surgeon.