Knee Fractures: Symptoms, Causes & Prevention

If a knee fractures gets severe, it may require surgery. A kneecap or a patella is a small bone that connects the thigh bones and your leg bones. The function of the patella is to protect the knee joint, by acting as a shield. The bones of the patella, thigh, and legs are enclosed with articular cartilage, a slippery fluid that allows smooth bone movement when you walk. As the kneecap is a shield, it can get injured in tripping or falling. Knee fractures differ not only in the damaged area but also in the level of damage.

The kneecap could break into parts or slightly crack. It could happen at the center or top or lower areas of the patella. It could also exist in several portions of the kneecap. Some other variations could be displaced fracture, stable fracture, comminuted fracture, and open fracture. In stable fracture non-displaced fracture, the broken parts would be aligned, and they also remain in position at the time of the healing process. The broken parts aren’t aligned but are separated in a displaced fracture. Usually, this needs surgical correction.

An open fracture is a fracture when the damage isn’t only to the bone but also to the neighboring muscles, tendons, and ligaments, the skin may open to make the bone visible. This occurs during excessive damage and it is a complicated case. A comminuted fracture occurs when the bone gets shattered into more than 3 parts, it is known as a comminuted fracture.

Risks

The risk involved in knee fractures includes a direct impact on the knees. This happens when you fall during playing sports or walking or while in motor vehicle accidents.

Causes

Usually, patellar fractures are caused by a direct blow to the kneecap, because of a vehicular accident or a fall. Sometimes, the kneecap can also get fractured by the violent contraction of thigh muscles.

Symptoms

The symptoms of a fracture in the knee include:

• Excessive knee pain
• Swelling in the knee
• Inability to straighten the knee
• Inability to walk
• Bruises in the injured part

Prevention

To prevent knee fractures, you must take the following points into consideration:

• Be extra careful if you are old and have other bone disorders like osteoporosis
• Careful when you play or walk on slippery surfaces
• Exercise mildly to improve your body balance and strength

Treatment

The surgery is performed by skilled orthopedic surgeons. The surgeons use various orthopedic products in the surgery that are provided by the orthopedic product manufacturer. The locking platesystem of Siora comprises implants and instruments that are used in knee surgeries.