Stress fracture of proximal tibia after proximal fibula osteotomy: A case report()

INTRODUCTION: Proximal fibula osteotomy (PFO) is a new method for treating medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee, which is based on the theory of differential settlement (nonuniform settlement). This procedure has been widely recognized for its advantages of relative simplicity, low rate of postoperative complications, and low postoperative costs. Stress fracture of the proximal tibia after PFO has not been previously reported. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 62-year-old woman with chronic rheumatoid arthritis (RA) underwent left PFO for chronic knee pain, who developed a stress fracture of the proximal tibia more than 1 year after PFO. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: In the early stage of proximal tibia stress fracture, due to the concealment of radiography manifestations, doctors from another hospital performed total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for the patient. They ignored the treatment of stress fracture of the proximal tibia, and the stress fracture was further aggravated after surgery. Six months later, the patient underwent open reduction and internal fixation with a plate and screw in the left proximal tibia fracture at our hospital. The patient was followed up at the hospital three months after open reduction, and the proximal tibia stress fracture began to heal. CONCLUSION: RA is usually not confined to the medial compartment and its pathogenesis is different from that of osteoarthritis. Therefore, PFO is not an appropriate procedure for this type of patient.