Patellar fracture
Updates to Article Attributes
Patella fracture is one of the common knee injuries usually post direct trauma to the patella or sudden forceful contraction of the quadriceps muscles in a context of sports injury.
Clinical presentation
Patients present with marked swelling and pain over the patella with point tenderness and marked reduction in extension strength. Usually, there is a large joint effusion or hemarthrosis.
Pathology
There are different causes forof patella fracture:
- a direct blow to patella, e.g. dashboard injury
- severe forces by extensor mechanism
- after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
- after total knee reconstruction
- pathological fracture
Morphology
- transverse fracture of mid patella (most common)
- comminuted fracture
- vertical fracture (rare)
- osteochondral defect usually from medial facet
- patellar sleeve fracture in children
Some fractures are more subtle and need to be differentiated from normal variants.
Treatment and prognosis
For the treatment of transverse fractures, the classic method is the tension band.
Differential diagnosis
The main differential is of multipartite patella, where there is a failure of fusion of secondary ossification centres. The unfused fragments are almost always in the superolateral quadrant of the patella. With a multipartite patella, the volume of the true patella plus that of the smaller ossification centres is greater than that expected of a normal patella. With a patellar fracture, the volume of the fractured components is equivalent to that of a normal patella.
-<p><strong>Patella fracture</strong> is one of the common knee injuries usually post direct trauma to the patella or sudden forceful contraction of the quadriceps muscles in a context of sports injury.</p><h4>Clinical presentation</h4><p>Patients present with marked swelling and pain over the patella with point tenderness and marked reduction in extension strength. Usually, there is a large joint effusion or hemarthrosis.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p>There are different causes for patella fracture:</p><ul>- +<p><strong>Patella fracture</strong> is one of the common knee injuries usually post direct trauma to the patella or sudden forceful contraction of the quadriceps muscles in a context of sports injury.</p><h4>Clinical presentation</h4><p>Patients present with marked swelling and pain over the patella with point tenderness and marked reduction in extension strength. Usually, there is a large joint effusion or hemarthrosis.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p>There are different causes of patella fracture:</p><ul>
Image 3 X-ray (Lateral) ( create )
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