Operative Treatment of Tibial Plateau Fractures.

To clarify the factors affecting clinical results, 21 cases of tibial plateau fractures treated operatively in our hospital were reviewed. Mean post-surgical period of immobilization was 11.4 days, and the range of motion (ROM) of the knees recovered on average to 133.9 degrees flexion. In 16 cases a continuous passive motion system was used. In this group, a better range of motion was acquired than in the manually exercised group. Clinical results were evaluated according to the criteria proposed by Hohl and Luck. Every case achieved a good to excellent result. There was no correlation between age and final ROM, nor type of fracture and final ROM. On the other hand, longer immobilization periods tend to delay recovery of the ROM.