Clinical profile of patients with patellar fractures at a tertiary care hospital

Background: Patellar fractures are injuries of a serious nature. Among the skeletal injuries, they constitute about 1%. Males are affected double than that compared to the females. It is not easy to perform a stable form of reconstruction of the facture of the patella, and it is a major challenge to the surgeons. Objective: The objective of the study was to study the clinical profile of patients with patellar fractures. Materials and Methods: We conducted this study on forty patients with fracture patella in 2-year duration. The period of follow-up was 4-14 months. Management options included partial and/or total patellectomy and internal fixation with tension band wiring with K wire. All the fracture of patella cases by accident or due to fall were included. Careful clinical examination and history taking was carried out. X ray of the knee joint, anterior posterior, lateral view was also advised. Results: Male-to-female ratio was 4:1. Twenty percent of patients underwent conservative management. Among them, internal fixation with K wire banding was done in 60% of the cases, while 5% required total patellectomy and 15% required partial patellectomy. Majority, i.e., 85% had fracture of the patella due to road traffic accidents. Fifty-five percent of the cases had no complications. The most common complication was infections in 20% of the cases, followed by effusion in 10% and wire breakage in 10% of the cases. Only two cases had delayed union. Conclusion: As for as possible patella should be preserved with good surgical techniques, proper antibiotics and with good physiotherapy results are excellent.