Clinical Outcomes of Fixation of Depressed Posterolateral Tibial Plateau Fractures Using a Direct Lateral Approach

Introduction Fixation of plateau posterolateral fracture (PLF) is challenging because the fracture site is mostly covered by vital neurovascular structures. We operated on 15 cases of PLF using a direct lateral approach. This study aims to report on clinical results. Material and methods Between 2017 and 2019, 15 cases of PLFs were fixed with a direct lateral approach and a tricortical autologous bone graft from the iliac crest. A depression of more than 2 mm was indicated for the surgical treatment. Clinical evaluation included Lysholm score, International Knee Documentation Committee Score (IKDC) score, and Tegner activity scale after two years follow-up. Results The last follow-up was at 24 months after the operation. The mean postoperative Tegner activity scale did not change significantly compared to before the injury (6.5 (6–7) vs. 7 (6–8, p = 0.5)). The postoperative IKDC and Lysholm scores improved significantly compared to before the operation ( p