Comparison of Therapeutic Effects of Suprapatellar Approach and Infrapatellar Approach Intramedul -lary Nail for Tibial Shaft Fractures

Abstract：Objective To analyze the differences of surgical operation and therapeutic effect between the suprapatel -lar approach and the infrapatellar approach in treatment of tibial shaft fractures .Methods 34 patients with tibial shaft fractures were treated with intramedullary nail in our hospital during November ,2014 to November ,2015 .They were selected and divided into two groups according to the operation ,17 cases of the suprapatellar approach group(group A) and 17 cases of the infrapatellar approach group (group B) .The clinical date about operation time ,amount of bleeding , number of fluoroscopy ,postoperative complications ,fracture healing rate ,fracture healing time ,incidence of postopera-tive knee pain ,postoperative Lysholm knee score were compared in this study .Results The number of fluoroscopy in group A (8 .8 ± 1 .2) was less than that in group B (10 .9 ± 2 .0) ,the incidence of knee pain in group A (5 .9％ ) was sig-nificantly lower than that in group B (41 .2％ ) ,Lysholm knee score (87 .9 points) was higher than that in group B (83 . 9 points) ,the difference was statistically significant (P < 0 .05) .There was no significant difference between the two groups in operation time ,amount of bleeding ,postoperative complications ,fracture healing rate and healing time (P > 0 . 05) .Conclusion Patients with tibial shaft fractures treated with suprapatellar approach intramedullary nail had fewer fluoroscopy than infrapatellar approach ,with a lower incidence of postoperative knee pain and better postoperative knee function recovery .