[Lateral tibial head fracture and avulsion fracture of the tibial tuberosity: a rare combination of injuries].

The rare combination of a lateral tibial head fracture and an avulsion fracture of the tibial tuberosity requires treatment that differs from the therapy of the single occurrence of each of these injuries. Especially postsurgical treatment is not yet standardized. We report about the history of disease in a patient who had a work-related accident in which he suffered trauma during passive knee flexion in combination with an active extension of the quadriceps femoris muscle. We performed a multimodal osteosynthesis followed by postsurgical treatment which is different from the postoperative treatment for the individual injuries: immobilization of the knee joint with a thigh splint for 6 weeks, isometric physical therapy, and prohibition of movement in the knee for 4 weeks. This therapy appears to be an effective and successful approach for this combination of injuries, where no standardized treatment has been established yet.