Tibial stress fracture treated with plate osteosynthesis

Case report

Abstract

Tibial stress fracture is an infrequent pathology that generally affects high performance athletes. When conservative management fails, surgical treatment has to be considered. The treatment that is generally accepted is the intramedullary nailing. We present the case of a 20 years old female, volley player, presented with tibial stress fracture that was treated with an alternative surgical procedure, a plate osteosynthesis. Post operatively the tibiae united, the patient returned to sport activity 90 days after surgical procedure. This treatment is proposed for tibial stress fracture, with same clinical results as intramedullary nailing, but with the advantage that avoids the knee extensor mechanism, and also has biomechanical advantages with respect to the intramedullary nailing.