Altered long-term patient-perceived outcome following lateral tibial plateau fractures - A matched register-based cohort study of 762 patients with a mean of 11 years of follow-up.

Abstract

While several studies have examined lateral tibial plateau fracture (LTPF) outcomes, long-term follow-up data (exceeding 10 years) remain limited. We aim to compare the long-term patient-reported outcomes following LTPF to that of an age- and gender-matched group without an LTPF. The study design was a national matched cohort study, including all patients admitted with an LTPF in Denmark between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2017. The primary outcome measure was The Knee Injury Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). The match group consisted of Danish citizens without LTPFs matched 1:10 to the LTPF group on age and gender. Total 1621 patients with a LTPF were included. Of these, 762 (47 %) responded to the survey invitation. The mean age of respondents was 61.5 years, and 65 % were women-the mean follow-up time since fracture was 11.2 years, ranging between 6.1 and 26.0 years. The match group was comprised of 16,210 citizens. Of these, 5050 (31 %) responded to the survey invitation. The mean age of respondents was 63.3 years, and 72 % were women. Patients with LTPFs reported significantly lower KOOS subscale scores compared to the match group. The differences in KOOS subscale scores ranged from a mean of 7.2 in activities of daily living (ADL) to 20.4 in sport and recreational activities (Sport/Rec). Results suggested than LTPFs are associated with considerable long-term patients-perceived knee complaints compared to that of an age- and gender-matched population without a lateral tibial plateau fracture.