Acute patellar tendon rupture with tibial tubercle avulsion repair using suture anchors: Tiny avulsed fragment which affects the strength of construction-a case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Patellar tendon is one of the most important components of the knee extensor mechanism, which consisted of quadriceps femoris muscle, quadriceps tendon, patellar bone and patellar tendon. The total disruption of patellar tendon will lead to disability and significant morbidity of the patient, or even worse, the patient is disabled to walk. The incidence of patellar tendon rupture is uncommon and most commonly found in the third to fourth decade of life. We present a case of total patellar tendon rupture in a teenager with primary repair with suture anchor. CASE PRESENTATION: We presented a case of 14-year-old male with acute patellar tendon rupture accompanied by tibial tubercle avulsion after injury during basketball game. We treated by four-strands Krakow's suture that stitched to three sutures anchor, while cancellous screw plus washer introduced as internal fixation of bony avulsion at tibial tubercle. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Range of motion and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score had been followed up within 2 years with good result. Full range of motion and the IKDC score 89.7 were achieved without major complication such as pain and infection. The patient was able to return into sport activities. CONCLUSION: The combination of cancellous screw with washer and three suture anchors lead to a good result in acute total rupture of patellar tendon with bony avulsion at tibial tubercle.