Patellar tendon rupture

Abstract

Patellar tendon rupture is a rare pathology with few cases series reported in literature. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological, clinical profile of patellar tendon ruptures as well as its operative management and outcome. We carried out a retrospective descriptive study involving 11 cases of patellar tendon rupture managed between 2012 and 2018 at the department of Traumatology and Orthopedic surgery A of Hassan II Teaching Hospital, Fez. It is an infrequent injury potentially occurring at any age in life with a clear predominance in young male adults. All cases pertain to an acute post-traumatic rupture. Diagnosis was made preoperatively on physical examination in most patients. Surgery found a full body mid substance ruptures in most cases with a distal tear only in the 33.3% of cases. Surgery is the mainstay treatment. It involves repair using vicryl 2sutures reinforced by a wire frame in most cases patients: transosseous sutures augmented with a steel wire frame or an autologous semitendinosus graft. Functional outcomes were evaluated using Swik's criteria, with 58.3% cases exhibiting excellent or good results. Thus the authors conclude that acute patellar tendon ruptures affect mainly young active males with surgery being the mainstay treatment that guarantees favorable outcome depending on the time of repair and postoperative patella height.