Prospective case series of 37 tibial shaft fractures treated with intramedullary nailing via a percutaneous suprapatellar (SP) portal in a semiextended position, reporting radiographic, functional, and patellofemoral outcomes at minimum 1-year follow-up. The study asks whether this alternative entry technique can achieve standard union and alignment while avoiding the anterior knee pain seen with conventional infrapatellar nailing.
When treating tibial shaft fractures — especially proximal-third patterns where knee flexion drives procurvatum deformity.
The suprapatellar semiextended approach offers a percutaneous alternative that avoids patellar tendon manipulation and eliminates position-dependent malalignment, with union rates and knee function comparable to standard nailing and strikingly less anterior knee pain.
Prospective case series of 37 tibial shaft fractures treated with intramedullary nailing via a percutaneous suprapatellar (SP) portal in a semiextended position, reporting radiographic, functional, and patellofemoral outcomes at minimum 1-year follow-up. The study asks whether this alternative entry technique can achieve standard union and alignment while avoiding the anterior knee pain seen with conventional infrapatellar nailing.
When treating tibial shaft fractures — especially proximal-third patterns where knee flexion drives procurvatum deformity.
The suprapatellar semiextended approach offers a percutaneous alternative that avoids patellar tendon manipulation and eliminates position-dependent malalignment, with union rates and knee function comparable to standard nailing and strikingly less anterior knee pain.