Locking compression plate + T-type steel plate for postoperative weight bearing and functional recovery in complex tibial plateau fractures

Table 1 Comparison of the operation status and length of postoperative hospital stay between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Group	n	Operation time (min)	Surgical bleeding (mL)	Anterior external incision length (cm)	Intraoperative bone graft (g)	Postoperative drainage (mL)	Hospital stays (d)
Study group	49	118.3 ± 14.0	339.4 ± 38.0	17.5 ± 2.2	7.10 ± 1.87	139.4 ± 34.0	7.4 ± 1.5
Control group	48	130.1 ± 16.3	344.1 ± 42.6	17.8 ± 2.6	9.23 ± 2.04	143.8 ± 39.6	7.8 ± 1.7
t value		-3.827	-0.574	-0.614	-5.362	-0.588	-1.229
P value		0.000	0.568	0.541	0.000	0.558	0.222

Table 2 Comparison of postoperative fracture healing between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Group	n	Fracture healing time (wk)	Full load time (wk)
Study group	49	13.5 ± 1.7	14.6 ± 1.2
Control group	48	14.0 ± 2.0	16.2 ± 1.8
t value		-1.328	-5.161
P value		0.187	0.000

Table 3 Comparison of the angles of tibial plateau varus angle and tibial plateau retroversion angle between the two groups of patients at different times after surgery (mean ± SD)

Group	n	TPA angle (°)		PA angle (°)
		Immediately after surgery	18 mo after surgery	Immediately after surgery	18 mo after surgery
Study group	49	86.34 ± 3.81	86.04 ± 2.51	9.54 ± 2.20	9.83 ± 1.72
Control group	48	86.51 ± 3.44	85.78 ± 2.92	9.31 ± 2.14	9.91 ± 1.84
t value		-0.231	0.471	0.522	-0.221
P value		0.818	0.639	0.603	0.825

TPA: Tibial plateau varus angle; PA: Tibial plateau retroversion angle.

Table 4 Comparison of knee joint function between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Group	n	Subjective evaluation score (points)		Radiology evaluation (points)
		12 mo after operation	18 mo after surgery	12 mo after operation	18 mo after surgery
Study group	49	18.84 ± 3.50	25.81 ± 2.50	10.41 ± 2.10	15.50 ± 1.32
Control group	48	16.57 ± 3.32	25.21 ± 2.64	10.13 ± 2.32	15.16 ± 1.27
t value		3.276	1.150	0.623	1.292
P value		0.001	0.253	0.534	0.199

Table 5 Comparison of surgical complication rates between the two groups, n (%)

Group	n	Incision infection	Delayed fracture union	Traumatic arthritis	Complication rate
Study group	49	1	0	1	2 (3.77)
Control group	48	4	1	3	8 (15.09)
χ2					4.153
P value					0.042