ArticleEuropean journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie2026
Low early fixation failure rates with variable-angle locking plate fixation of AO/OTA 34 C patella fractures: a retrospective cohort study.
Article in European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo determine the fixation failure rate of the variable-angle (VA) locking patella plate and to evaluate whether supplemental augmentation reduced the risk of fixation failure.
methodsA retrospective comparative cohort study was performed at a Level I trauma center between January 2021 and June 2025. Adult patients with OTA/AO 34 C patella fractures treated with a VA locking plate with or without augmentation and ≥ 3 months of follow-up were included. Augmentation was defined as additional plates, independent screws, cerclage wire, heavy non absorbable sutures, or suture anchors that were used to supplement fixation and/or reinforce the inferior patellar pole or extensor mechanism. The primary outcome was fixation failure; secondary outcomes included mode of failure, infection and symptomatic implant removal.
resultsThirty-four patients were included (17 VA-only, 17 VA + augmentation). Groups were comparable for age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index, OTA/AO subclassification, open fracture status and follow-up duration (all p > 0.05). The overall fixation failure rate was 2.9% (1/34), occurring at the distal fixation interface in the augmented group. There was no significant difference in failure rate between groups (VA-only 0.0% vs. VA + augmentation 5.9%; p = 1.0). One patient in the VA group suffered a fracture-related infection and one patient in the VA + augmentation cohort had a suture abscess. One patient in the VA + augmentation cohort required hardware removal for symptomatic hardware. All remaining patients healed without complications.
conclusionVariable-angle locking plate fixation of AO/OTA 34 C patella fractures was associated with low rates of early fixation failure and symptomatic hardware removal. With only a single documented fixation failure, the study was underpowered to draw conclusions regarding the protective role of augmentation on fixation failure.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.