Supracondylar fracture of the femur following total knee arthroplasty. Description of two clinical cases

Abstract

The authors describe two cases of supracondylar fracture of the femur occurring following total knee arthroplasty. By reviewing the literature, they analyze causal factors indicating the constant presence, observed also in the cases presented, of an erroneous resection of the anterior cortex of the femur. In association with other predisposing factors, this condition favors an anomalous distribution of the load forces in this site, reducing torsion resistance of the femur by about 30%: what results is greater susceptibility for the risk of fracture for a long period of time, even for trauma of moderate entity.