• Salvatore Risitano, Fortunato Giustra, Francesco Bosco, Antonio Rea, Giorgio Cacciola, Raffaella Rizzolo, Luigi Sabatini, Marcello Capella, and Alessandro Massè.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, "Città Della Salute E Della Scienza" - CTO Hospital of Turin, 10126, Turin, Italy.
• Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2024 Jun 26.

BackgroundTibial plateau fractures (TPFs) are usually associated with ligamentous or meniscal injuries that could remain misdiagnosed. An appropriate and early recognition may change the surgical management of these soft tissue injuries (STIs) that could be addressed concomitantly with TPF treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an efficient diagnostic test to identify all associated STIs in TPFs. This study aims to analyze the MRI impact in identifying and guiding the STIs treatment in TPFs.Material/MethodsThis retrospective study included a consecutive series of 57 patients with TPFs treated between January 1st, 2022, and December 31st, 2022. All fracture patterns were classified according to the AO/OTA and Schatzker classification. The prevalence of STIs, including medial meniscus (MM), lateral meniscus (LM), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injuries, was assessed through the MRI evaluation.ResultsA statistical significance was found regarding the MRI detection of LM, ACL, PCL and MCL injuries that led to additional surgical procedures at the same time as the TPFs treatment (p < 0.05). In contrast, the amount of additional MM and LCL injuries identified by MRI, which resulted in other surgical procedures, was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).ConclusionsPreoperative MRI has been demonstrated to be an effective procedure for diagnosing STIs in TPFs, significantly influencing and changing the surgical treatment.Level Of EvidenceIV.© 2024. The Author(s).

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