Efficacy of external fixation combined with limited internal fixation in tibial plateau fractures

Objective To observe the efficacy of external fixation combined with limited internal fixation in patients with tibial plateau fractures. Methods A total of 70 patients with tibial plateau fractures from January 2011 to January 2014 were enrolled,which included 41 males and 29 females, aged 32- 66 years old with mean age of 41.60. In accordance with the modus operandi,all of them were divided into observation group(n = 35) and control group(n = 35). The observation group was performed external fixation combined with limited internal fixation and control group was given locking plate fixation. The efficacy, operative time,blood bleeding, incision length, callus formation time, healing time, hospitalization time and complication rate were observed.Results The excellent and good rate was 88.57 % in observation group, and 82.86 % in control group, with no statistically significant difference between 2 groups(χ2= 0.117, P 0.05). The operative time, blood bleeding and incision length in observation group were significantly shorter or lower than those in control group( P 0.01). The callus formation time, healing time and hospitalization time were not significantly different between 2 groups( P 0.05). The complication incidence was 5.71 % in observation group significantly lower than 25.71 % in control group(χ2= 3.883, P 0.05). Conclusion It is demonstrated that external fixation combined with limited internal fixation in patients with tibial plateau fractures is obviously minimall invasive with rapid postoperative recovery and less complications and other characteristics, and should be recommended for clinical application.