Fixation of extra articular fracture of inferior pole of patella by on needle stainless steel suture wire

The patella is the largest sesamoid bone in the body. As the patella bone is responsible for the strong extensor mechanism of the knee joint, its reconstruction and anatomical restoration after fracture is always desirable over excision. Extra articular fracture of lower pole of patella accounts for less than 10 percent of all patellar fractures. The treatment of these fractures is complicated, as many a times the small fragment is communited and difficult to reduce & fix. Various methods have been described for fixation of these fractures but excision of lower pole with repair of patellar tendon to proximal fragment has also been advocated by many authors. We treated nine patients with extra articular displaced fracture of the inferior pole of the patella by operative fixation. All were fresh fractures. A different technique of fixation with on needle stainless steel suture wire was used. A transverse tunnel was made in the mid part of the proximal fragment with the help of a 2 mm K-Wire. An on needle stainless steel suture was taken and one of its ends was passed through this tunnel. Now the suture was passed in the patellar tendon just distal to the lower pole fragment. This loop was tightened to approximate the fracture fragments. All nine patients showed good signs of radiological healing at around 12 weeks. This technique of fixation of extra articular fracture of lower pole of patella by on needle SS suture wire is a safe, easy and effective option for fixation of these fractures.