Fractures of the patella.

THIS paper records an attempt made in 1956 to evaluate the long-term results of repair and excision of the fractured patella in an area where displaced transverse fractures were repaired and displaced comminuted fractures were excised. It is not a common injury. The Sunderland Hospitals serve some 400,000 people, but we were able to collect only 76 cases requiring operation between I936 and 1956 and of these we interviewed 34 patients; 52 of the fractured were transverse and 24 were comminuted-58 occurred in men and i8 in women. There was a peak in the incidence of transverse fractures of the patella between the ages of 6o and 70 years, suggesting that the patella became more brittle with advancing years. There was another peak between 20 and 30 years, probably due to the increased muscular activity of the individual during this decade. Comminuted fractures occurred mainly between the ages of 20 and 6o years.