OBJECTIVETo study the clinical efficacy of the treatment of patellar fracture percutaneous or open reduction with "8" tension band wire fixation.

METHODSFrom July 2007 to April 2010,96 patients with patellar fracture were treated by percutaneous or open reduction with "8"tension band wire fixation. In percutaneous group,there were 28 males and 20 females with an average age of (53.8 +/- 4.7) years old (ranged, 21 to 84); there were 27 transverse fractures and 21 comminuted fractures. In open reduction group, there were 26 males and 22 females with an average age of (49.1 +/- 4.2) years old (ranged, 19 to 86); there were 25 transverse fractures and 23 comminuted fractures. The operation time, hospital stay, and pain score on the first day and one week after operation were compared, and Böstman score was compared too.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up with an average of 13 months ranging from 6 to 19 months. The mean operation time of percutaneous group was (53.0 +/- 4.3)min and the open reduction group was (49.0 +/- 3.1) min, and there was no statistic differences between two groups (P > 0.05). The hospital stay, healing time in percutaneous group was shorter than that of open reduction group; VAS score on first day and the first week after operation in percutaneous group was lower than that of open reduction group. The mean Böstman score in percutaneous group (28.8 +/- 4.7) was lower than open reduction group (24.6 +/- 4.3).

CONCLUSIONPercutaneous internal fixation for the treatment of patellar fracture has advantages of minimally invasive, quick recovery. The clinical effectiveness of this method is superior to the open reduction.