Abstract
The so called “floating knee” is the result of ipsilateral fractures of femur and tibia.
The definition of floating knee dates back to 1974, when Blake and Mc Bryde proposed it in order to move the attention from the skeletal plane of the lower limb to the articular and vasculonervous plane of the knee, where complications are more frequent and dreadful: lesions of popliteal artery or sciatic nerve, stiffness or instability of the knee.
The timing of surgical treatment is still debated: in fact it may be immediate but provisional, with necessity of a second operation, or delayed but definitive.
Also the strategy of osteosynthesis may be controversial, because of the association of fractures.
We present a series of 3 cases (among them there were also 2 ipsilateral fractures of patella) with both femur and tibia treated by osteosynthesis with plate (1 case, with complications) or nail (2 cases, without complications): the patients were followed-up clinically and with X-rays for 1 year.
Our experience confirms the gold standard for this kind of fractures is locked intramedullary nailing, retrograde for femur and antegrade for tibia.
Correspondence should be addressed to Ariella Neustadt at Studio EGA, Professional Congress Organisers, Viale Tiziano, 19 - 00196, Rome - Italy.
