Anatomy

The patella may be a tiny bone set ahead of the hinge joint — wherever the femur (femur) and leg bone (tibia) meet. It protects the knee and connects the muscles within the front of the thigh to the leg bone.

The ends of the femoris and also the undersides of the patella square measure coated with a swish substance referred to as body part gristle. This gristle helps the bones glide simply on one another as you progress your knee.

Symptoms of a knee fracture

An immediate sign of a knee fracture may be a ill-shapen limb or joint that would be amid an obvious bone outside the skin. different signs of a knee fracture include:

Pain, swelling, tenderness, symptom or bruising close to the injury

Inability to maneuver the compact space

Deformity or instability within the knee, lower leg, gliding joint or foot

Different types of knee fracture

Stable patella fracture: in a very stable fracture, additionally known as a “nondisplaced” fracture, the broken items of your bone stay basically within the right place. they will still be connected to every different, or they will be separated by a mm or 2. this sort of fracture typically heals well while not surgery. If your attention supplier determines that you just don’t want surgery, they’ll immobilize your knee in extension with either a knee immobilizer, a hinged brace or a solid. You’ll be allowed involved the maximum amount weight as you’re comfy.

Displaced patella fracture: in a very fracture, your broken bone items are displaced from their correct position and don’t line up with one another as they ought to. These items usually have to be compelled to be mounted with surgery so as to heal and permit your knee to perform properly.

Transverse patella fracture: A thwartwise fracture may be a fracture wherever your patella breaks into 2 items. These breaks ar usually mounted with surgery. varied surgical techniques is wont to fix these injuries. Your sawbones can decide that is best for you.

Comminuted patella fracture: in a very fracture, your bone has shattered into 3 or additional items. A fracture is stable or unstable. once a fracture is unstable, a number of your bone items could also be too little to reconnect and will have to be compelled to be removed in surgery.

Open patella fracture: In associate degree break, your heal your bone has been broken. Either your bone items themselves have penetrated through your skin, or one thing has penetrated your knee from the surface. associate degree break needs prompt treatment with antibiotics and surgery to completely clean the wound. Open fractures tend to possess the next rate of infection, thus it’s necessary to hunt imperative medical treatment. Your sawbones can decide that surgical operation can best fix your fracture.

Knee Fracture Surgery

If the items of bone ar out of place (displaced), you’ll possibly want surgery. broken os sesamoideum bones that don’t seem to be approximate usually have issue healing or might not heal. The thigh muscles that attach to the highest of the patella ar terribly robust and may pull the broken items out of place throughout healing.

Timing of surgery. If the skin around your fracture has not been broken, your doctor might advocate waiting till any abrasions have recovered before having surgery.

Open fractures, however, have associate degree magnified risk of infection and ar scheduled  for surgery as shortly as doable, typically at intervals hours. throughout surgery, the cuts from the injury and therefore the surfaces of the bone ar completely cleansed out. The bone can generally be repaired throughout constant surgery.

Surgical Procedure

The type of procedure performed usually depends on the sort of fracture you’ve got. Before the surgery, your doctor can discuss your procedure with you, still as any potential complications.

Transverse fracture. These two-part fractures ar most frequently mounted in situ victimization screws or pins and wires and a “figure-of-eight” configuration tension band. The figure-of-eight band presses the 2 items along.

This procedure is best for treating fractures that ar placed close to the middle of the patella. Fracture items at the ends of the kneecap ar too little for this procedure. Breaks that ar in several items is overcompressed by the stress band. Another approach to a thwartwise fracture is to secure the bones victimization little screws or little screws and little plates.