Publication:

Bilateral patella fracture with unilateral refracture: a case report

Patella fracture consists of approximately 1% of all skeletal fractures. However bilateral patella fracture is even rarer (2-3% of all patella fractures) and is seen mostly in either dash board injuries or in different pathological conditions. A 21 year old male presented with bilateral patella fracture, where right patella was fractured due to RTA and the left one got fractured due to a fall while he was being helped for an X-ray for the first one. Bilateral tension band wiring was done and patient was being regularly followed up with good range of movement recovery. But again he had a fall in bathroom 3 month post-operative and on right side suffered a re-fracture. Modified tension band wiring was done. Patient gained full range of movement on both sides and returned to his normal activities at 9 months post op of index surgery. A case of bilateral patella fracture where mechanism of fracture for each patella fracture are different is unheard of. A case of bilateral patella fracture with re-fracture has not been reported yet in literature so far we know/ searched. Here we report and discuss the challenges in management of such a case and protocol we followed.