AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-15-2-0087 TITLE: Pathomechanics of Post-Traumatic OA Development in the Military Following Articular Fracture PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:

Patients with tibial pilon fractures have a higher incidence of post-traumatic osteoarthritis than those with fractures of the tibial plateau. This may indicate that pilon fractures present a greater mechanical insult to the joint than do plateau fractures. We tested the hypothesis that fracture energy and articular fracture edge length, two independent indicators of severity, are higher inpilon than plateau fractures. We also evaluated whether clinical fracture classification systems accurately reflect severity. Seventy-fivetibial plateau fractures and 52 tibial pilon fractures from a multi-institutional study were selected to span the spectrum of severity. Fracture severity measures were calculated using objective CT-based image analysis methods. The ranges of fracture energies measured for tibial plateau and pilon fractures were 3.2–33.2 Joules (J) and 3.6–32.2 J, respectively, and articular fracture edge lengthswere 68.0–493.0mm and 56.1–288.6mm, respectively. There were no differences in the fracture energies between the two fracture types, but plateau fractures had greater articular fracture edge lengths (p< 0.001). The clinical fracture classifications generally reflected severity, but there was substantial overlap of fracture severity measures between different classes. Similar fracture energies with different degrees of articular surface involvement suggest a possible explanation for dissimilar rates of post-traumaticosteoarthritis for fractures of the tibial plateau compared to the tibial pilon. The substantial overlap of severity measures between different fracture classes may well have confounded prior clinical studies relying on fracture classification as a surrogate for severity.! 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res