Abstract

• The aid of treatment in patellar fracture is the restoration of knee joint function and quadriceps muscle power. In this series, we experienced 37 cases of patellar fractures from March 1981 to March 1987 which were treated with operative care and followed-up at least 2 years at Department of the Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University.
  The results were as follow :
  1) Most fractures were encountered in man from twenties to thirties.
  2) The traffic accident was the most prevalent cause(17 cases, 47%) and 24 cases(65%) of fracture were induced by direct injury.
  3) The most frequent configration of fractures was comminuted.
  4) Among the operative methods, the result of the tension band wiring was superior to other operative methods, but not significantly.
  5) The long-term result of patellar fracture with operative management following trauma may be directly related to this initial damage, involvement of articular surface, duration of immobilization and operative method.
• Keywords: Fracture; Patella; Operative treatment