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Official Journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology

Table 1 Key features of included studies

From: External versus internal fixation for bicondylar tibial plateau fractures: systematic review and meta-analysis

Name

Design

Patients (knees)

Interventions

Follow-up

External fixation

ORIF

Ahearn [14]

Retrospective

21

34

External fixation: Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF)a

ORIF: Incision: Unknown. Fixation: Lateral locking plate ± medial plate fixation

External fixation: mean 31 months (range 12–58 months)

ORIF: mean 41 months (range 12–64 months)

Boston

 Mallik [29]

 Covall [26]

Retrospective

10 (10)

7 (7)

External fixation: Monticelli-Spinellib circular fixator

ORIF: Incision: Unknown. Fixation: Bilateral buttress, semi-tubular plates, or cannulated screws

External fixation: mean 10 months (range 5–28 months)

ORIF: mean 33 months (range 6–60 months)

Chertsey

 Guryel [34]

 Nawaz [33]

Retrospective

(79)

(45)

External fixation: Ilizarov circular frame

ORIF: Incision: Unknown. Fixation: Unknown

Unknown

COTS

 McKee [30]

 Pirani [32]

Randomized controlled trial

42 (43)

40 (40)

External fixation: Closed/percutaneous/limited reduction, percutaneous lag screw, and Ilizarov circular frame

ORIF: Incision: Single anterior or combined medial/lateral. Fixation: medial and lateral non-locking buttress plates ± iliac crest bone grafting

6, 12, and 24 months post-injury

Chan [25]

Retrospective

34 (35)

24 (24)

External fixation: Ilizarov circular frame (23/35, 65.7 %), Hoffman IIb with limited internal fixation (13/35, 37.1 %)

ORIF: Incision: Unknown. Fixation: Buttress plate (21/24, 84 %), Less Invasive Stabilization Systemc (4/24, 16 %)

3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-injury

Jansen [5]

Retrospective

2 (2)

20 (21)

External fixation: Synthes AOc fixator or Ilizarov circular frame

ORIF: Incision: Unknown. Fixation: LISSc (19/20, 95.0 %) ± additional plates (7/20, 30.4 %) ± artificial bone substitute (7/20, 30.4 %)

Mean 67 months (range 36–109 months)

Krupp [28]

Retrospective

30 (30)

28 (28)

External fixation: Hoffman II Hybridb (16/28, 57.1 %) or circular (14/28, 50.0 %) frames and interval ORIF (locking plate or LISSc)

ORIF: Incision: Unknown. Fixation: locking plate (8/28, 28.6 %), LISSc (20/28, 71.4 %)

Mean unknown (range 6–53 months)

  1. aSmith and Nephew Ltd, Brough, United Kingdom
  2. bStryker Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI
  3. cDePuy Synthes Companies, West Chester, PA