# Tibial Plateau Fracture



## Wankel7 (Jan 5, 2006)

Well, I messed a snowboard jump and landed hard and flat. 

Ended up with a tibial plateau fracture. It is compressed and depression is about 1 mm. As far as I understand that is much better than a displaced fracture which would require surgery. I go back into the doctor Wednesday ( 8 days since the injury) to get a new xray to confirm its still compressed. 

I would assume then I get orders for PT and then what I can and cannot do?

The doctor said no more than 50lbs of weight on the bum leg. He has me in crutches but no brace. The swelling has gone down a little bit. And there is almost zero pain.

Anybody been through this type of injury?

I did search and found one thread but it was a much worse fracture than mine. 

Thanks!


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## steevo (Nov 17, 2004)

Hey Wankel7,
How are you doing with this injury?
I crashed this weekend and just got the same diagnosis: a non-displace tibial plateau fracture. Emergency room doc (not an orthopedic surgeon) told me that i'd probably only have to stay off it for a few weeks then could start some non-weight bearing exercises, maybe even stationary cycling. But, just got back from seeing an orthopedic surgeon and he told me no weight at all on it for at least 6 weeks, then to expect 3 months until i can run and bike again. I'm supposed to get CT scan to confirm that I don't need surgery, but he told me even if I do need surgery, the recovery period is the same. Very discouraged by this prognosis, but I'll do what i have to do. Just wondering how someone with similar injury is making out. Hope it's going well...

Steve


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## Wankel7 (Jan 5, 2006)

My first doctor was an orthopedic doctor. They sent me to get an MRI and that showed the non displaced fracture with the 1MM dent.

The first 7 days was crutches and putting no more than 50lbs of weight on the bum leg. I was doing ice, elevation, and compression bandage. It didn't want to bend too much.

After 7 days of that the doctor said 14 days of half body weight on the leg, stationary biking, and swimming. So, I eased into that. The flexibility started to come back. I bought a magnetic trainer so I could ride inside.

Then at the end of the fourth week the doctor took me off the crutches. It felt weird to walk again. The muscle imbalance was amazing. There was a visible difference in my quads and calf muscles. 

Right now it has been 7 weeks since the injury. I haven't started to run yet. I wanted to wait longer. Although the doctor said it should be ok. I've been riding a lot.

The flexibility is back. Although, it does hurt a little bit if I tuck my foot up to my butt. Doing that quad stretch is where I feel that. But over all there is no pain walking. Just a little pain behind the knee when I do that quad stretch. Although, I have been doing a lot of one legged exercises so I can't tell if it is this injury or just all the working out. When I say a little...on a 1-10 scale its about a 1.

Feel wise...my hurt leg feels almost the same as the non hurt leg. 

But go see an ortho for sure to find out what the deal is.

Good luck with it!


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## dbikeco (Feb 7, 2004)

I broke my TP 3 years ago mt.biking I was on crutches for 9 weeks no weight on it. back on the bike in 3 months. for me it was a hard 3 months. good luck with it!


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

Was the other thread you found mine?


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## steevo (Nov 17, 2004)

It seems this injury spans a wide range of severity. I hope my prognosis is similar to yours Wankel7. Thanks for sharing your experience. And thanks for chiming in nachomc and dbikeco, i'm glad to see you both have fully recovered. 

I know in the big picture a few months off the bike is not the end of the world, but it sure is a bitter pill to swallow right now. And I'm frustrated that I still don't know what's going on. It's been 7 days since the accident. Two emergency room docs and two orthopedic surgeons have looked at my xrays and from them I've heard :

-need surgery, with plates and rod
-no surgery, stay off it for 3 weeks then gradually start using it
-no surgery, stay off it for 6 weeks, then start PT
-surgery, but no rods or plates, stay off it for 6 weeks

:madman: 

I had CT scan friday AM, but because of the weekend, I won't know results until sometime tomorrow. So hopefully tomorrow, I will finally know what the hell i need to do to recover. The waiting and wondering is the hardest.


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## Wankel7 (Jan 5, 2006)

It seems like the depth of the dent is the key to surgery or not. I remeber reading somewhere that 1mm - 4 mm is no operation.

But if it is greater than that surgery. Or I guess if the fracture is actually displaces.

All of those opinons don't mean squat until they see the images.

How is the pain and swelling?


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## steevo (Nov 17, 2004)

it is still swollen, though not as bad as it was earlier in the week. Pain is intermittent, and seems to move from place to place. For a while I'll feel it above the knee, later on one side. THere seems to be no pain where the actual bone is broken though. 

I'm not really sure what to do with my leg. I'm trying to keep it straight and not move it much, but after a while that gets really uncomfortable so i prop it up with a slight bend. I guess if the bone moved around after the crash it would've done so already, since i pedaled another mile or so out of the woods after it happened, and then walked around on it that afternoon.


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## steevo (Nov 17, 2004)

Just got the good news: It's displaced only 2mm so no surgery needed. Crutches for 5 more weeks but can start moving the joint to get some range of motion back.


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

That's good! The most challenging part of my recovery was losing ROM in my ankle. When I first came out of my cast, I thought I couldn't remember how to move my ankle, but I found out I did, it was just locked. Over time, the flexibility came back for the most part but I was still limited. Every once in a while I'd jam the ankle by accident, and flex it farther than it preferred. It would hurt like a B!TCH, but the next day I'd have a bit more flexibility. A few weeks ago, I wrenched the ankle pretty good while riding, and then felt a pop...now my ankle flexes 95% as far as the other that I never broke  (My doctor says that feeling and pop is breaking through scar tissue).

If you can avoid losing ROM in the first place, you'll be much better off. Thinking back, I remember at the time I was sad to have broken my leg, angry about being off my bike and unable to walk, the typical 'why me!?!?!' stuff. Overall though, I was lucky, and only unable to walk for about three months, and once I got back to walking, and riding my road bike, then my mountain bike, the strength and things came back pretty quickly.


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## steevo (Nov 17, 2004)

*progress*

It's hard to believe but it has already been 6 weeks and 2 days since my injury. At about 4.5 weeks I started on the bike trainer, just letting my injured leg go through the motions without putting too much load on it. I started physical therapy yesterday. Things look good. I have full flexion but not quite full extension. This seems to be where I'll need the most work. When i do the exercises, i can really feel it where the bone is actually broken. This is the first real pain i've had in that area, previously most of the pain was related to general swelling and inflamation of the knee joint which has gone away mostly.. 
The therapist has me partial weight bearing and using 1 crutch for most of the day or as long as I can tolerate. I'm hoping in another week I will be off the crutches all together.
I feel like I can now pedal in low gear for an extended period of time, hopefully i will be taking easy rides on the street soon. I'm probably another 6 weeks or so from being back on the trails, but I will be patient and not push it too soon. I'm 39 years old, so I think it's safe to plan on at least 12 weeks or so before it's close to fully healed.
I've included a CT scan image of my fracture. Not nearly as severe as some TPF's I've seen here and on other sites, but thought I'd include it for reference.


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## MTBigSky (May 26, 2008)

Good to see you are recovering. It still looks like a nasty fracture.

I am working in physical therapy with a lady who fractured her tibial plateau and she is beginning to walk without an assistive device after a few weeks of seeing her. 

It's a long process to returning to prior level of function...all due to that whole part about being unable to walk for awhile.


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