Adolescent tibial tubercle fractures in the time of the COVID 19: A single orthopedic trauma center experience

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to assess the incidence and clinical characteristics of adolescent tibial tubercle fractures (TTFs) during the COVID-19 pandemic by sharing our experiences. METHODS: Pediatric patients aged between 0 and 18 years old with confirmed diagnosis of TTFs who were treated at our center between April 2020 and May 2020 were included in the study. In addition to demographics, mechanism injury, treatment modalities, complications were also noted. RESULTS: Sixteen patients were included in the study. The mean age was 14.8 ± 0.9 years (range: 13–16 years). The mean BMI of patients was 26.3 ± 2.3 kg/m(2) (range: 23.2–30.4 kg/m(2)). According to the BMI-for-age percentiles growth chart, eight patients (50%) were overweight, and eight patients (50%) were at a risk of being categorized as overweight. The most common cause for the injury was jumping due to basketball (50%). Twelve of 16 patients were treated operatively by open reduction and internal fixation. The remaining 4 patients were treated non-operatively with long leg cast. CONCLUSION: The incidence of TTFs was 16 cases over about two months during the pandemic isolation period. Our results demonstrated that all adolescent TTFs occurred during periods when outdoor activities were permitted. This finding may be explained by sudden athletic activity after prolonged immobilization. We observed that all of our patients were male and either overweight or at risk of being overweight.