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Case Reports
. 2017 Nov 4:12:19-23.
doi: 10.1016/j.tcr.2017.10.010. eCollection 2017 Dec.

Fabella fracture with radiological imaging: A case report

Feng Zhou  1   2 , Fei Zhang  1   2 , Guoying Deng  1 , Chun Bi  1 , Jiandong Wang  1 , Qian Wang  1 , Qiugen Wang  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Fabella fracture with radiological imaging: A case report

Feng Zhou et al. Trauma Case Rep. .

Abstract

The fabella is a kind of sesamoid bone which is located in the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle. A slice of studies demonstrated that fabella is involved in the knee joint stabilization. Fabella fracture may cause knee pain or functional impairment as the previous reports pointed. It is extremely rare, which leads to its high rate of missed diagnosis in clinical and radiography to some extent. We report a case of a 38-year-old female who was struck by an electromobile. The fabella fracture was confirmed on X-ray plain films. After that, the degree of injury was evaluated with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Keywords: Fabella; Fracture; MRI; Posterolateral knee pain.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Structures of knee joint. (1) Posterior aspect of knee joint. A: femur, B: tibia, C: fibula, D: fabella. 1: Fibular collateral ligament, 2: fabellofibular ligament, 3: arcuate ligament, 4: popliteus tendon, 5: semimembranosus tendon, 6: gastrocnemius muscle (medial head), 7: gastrocnemius muscle (lateral head), 8: oblique popliteal ligament. (2) Lateral aspect of knee joint. A: patella, B: tibia, C: femur, D: fabella, E: fibula. 1: Popliteus tendon, 2: fibular collateral ligament, 3: gastrocnemius muscle (lateral head), 4: popliteus muscle, 5: oblique popliteal ligament, 6: fabellofibular ligament.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Lateral and anteroposterior X-ray plain film of the left knee revealed a transverse radiolucent line across the fabella (black arrow).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Lateral X-ray plain film of the left knee revealed the aggravated radiolucent line (black arrow) by keen joint passive extension.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
A sagittal T1-weighted fast spin-echo showed bone contusions in the tibial regions.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Axial T2-weighted fat-suppressed sequences revealed a low signal line within the fabella consistent with fracture (white arrow).
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Four months later, the patient recovered well, knee joint flexion and extension movement was good.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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