Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Shahid, Maqsood Akhtar, Abeera Babur, Farheen Qasim, Faizan Majeed.
Functional and radiological outcome of Schatzker type V and VI tibial plateau fractures treatment with hybrid external fixator.
J Allama Iqbal Med Coll Jan ;19(4):833-9.

Background: Tibial plateau fractures especially Schatzker type V and VI are mostly accompanied by soft tissue injuries like compartment syndrome and neurovascular involvement. Open reduction and internal fixation is always not a definitive answer for such fractures. Hybrid external fixator is used to maintain articular and axial alignment in such cases. Objectives: To assess the functional and radiological outcome of Schatzker type V and VI fracture treated with Hybrid external fixator. This prospective study was carried out in orthopaedics department of Services Hospital, Lahore from December 2017 to December 2019. Methods: A total number of 40 patients with Schatzker type V and VI fractures were included in the study. All these patients were admitted through emergency department of Services Hospital, Lahore. Written consent was taken from each patient for being a part of study. Age range was 20 to 50 years and there were 35 male and 5 females. All patients with poly trauma and neurovascular injury were excluded from study. All these patients were operated and fixed with hybrid external fixator. They were discharged 3 to 5 days after the surgery. These patients were followed in OPD after 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th month. We used Rasmussen functional and radiological score for the assessment of these fractures. Results: Mean age was 40 years. There was a male dominance in the sample under study (M35:F5). The most common mechanism of injury was road traffic accident. Rasmussen functional score was excellent for 20, good for 16 and fair for 4 patients. Rasmussen radiological score was excellent in 24 good in 12 and in in 4 patients it was fair. Conclusion: Hybrid external fixator is a simple and excellent device to treat Schatzker type V and VI fractures with good functional and radiological outcomes. Keywords: Tibial Plateau, Complex proximal tibia fracture, Hybrid external fixator, Schatzker type V and VI fractures, Rasmussen score

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