Quantitative three-dimensional computed tomography analysis of posterior cruciate ligament avulsion

BackhroundsTibia avulsion fracture of posterior cruciate ligament is a particular type of damage tothis ligament. Advanced imaging modalities such as CT scans and MRIs can providevaluable information to define the extent of these types of injuries. The aim of thisstudy was to investigate morphological and mapping features of a tibia avulsionfracture of posterior cruciate ligament of tibia by 3D CT scan.MethodsWe did a cross-sectional study inhospitals. All adult patients with PCL avulsion from2011 to 2016 that CT scan was done for them were included in this study. Data werecollected from PACS of Emdadi Hospital in Mashhad. After excluding patients withexit criteria the data was exported into Mimics researcher 20 for measuring thefragmentation characteristics.ResultsThe present research showed higher prevalence of PCL avulsion fractures of tibia inmen. The mean age of patients with PCL avulsion fractures of tibia was significantlyhigher (P = 0.038) in women (mean=14.02±33.42) than men (mean=7.18±26.27). Themeans of the volume of fractured piece (P=0.012), anterior posterior diameter of thepiece (P=0.049), mediolateral diameter of piece (P=0.036), anterior posterior diameterof tibia (P<0.001), mediolateral diameter of Tibia (P<0.001) and volume of the tibia(P<0.001) were significantly higher in men than women. There was a significantcorrelation between the number of parts of fractured bone with anterior posteriordiameter of the piece (P=0.018) and anteroposterior ratio (P=0.024). There was asignificant correlation between the volume of fractured pieces with anterior posteriordiameter of the piece (P<0.001), mediolateral diameter of the piece (P<0.001), anteriorposteriordiameter of the tibia (P<0.001), tibia mediolateral diameter (P=0.003),volume of the tibia (P<0.001), anteroposterior ratio (P<0.001) and mediolateral ratio(P<0.001). There was no significant correlation between the numbers of screws used intreatment of patients with PCL avulsion fracture with other variables. ConclusionsThis study increased the information of morphological characteristics and mapping ofavulsion fragment which could help us to improve the current treatments and find newsurgical fixation such as using plate in PCL avulsion.