Bicondylar tibial fractures: Comparison of single lateral locked plate and double incision dual plate osteosynthesis

Over the years, the incidence of high velocity tibial plateau fractures has increased mainly due to increase in motor vehicle accidents, sports related injuries and falls.Currently there are different surgical treatment options available for treating these high energy tibial plateau fractures. However no single treatment method has proven to be uniformly successful. This was a prospective study comparing two groups, one treated by single lateral locked plating (SLLP) and the other by double incision dual plating (DIDP) and followed for a period of 1 year. All fractures in both groups united. There was higher average operating time and radiation exposure in DIDP group. Incidence of soft tissue complications were higher in DIDP group. Incidence of loss of reduction and alignment were higher in SLLP group. Functional outcome at the end of one year follow-up was better in DIDP group.