Tibial plateau fractures are common fractures which most of the times require surgery. Recovery can take several months. The aim of our study was to estimate the effect of tibial plateau fractures in quality of life of patients one year after the surgery.

During the time period 2004–2007 we treated 86 patients, with a mean age of 44 years (23–68). Fracture classification was according to Schatzker, hence, there were 9 patients with type I, 14 with type II, 20 with type III, 22 with type IV, 13 with type V and 8 with type VI. In 45 (52.3%) patients the articular surface was reduced with limited use of internal fixation and bone grafts, whereas the remaining patients had syndesmotaxis performed. In all patients stabilization was achieved with hybrid external fixators. Sixty four patients returned in one year postoperative for the study, at which time they completed the Short Form-36 (SF-36) general health surveys.

Compared to the standardized SF-36 categorical and aggregate scores there was no statistically significant difference between the healthy age-matched population and young patients with Schatzker I, II, III and IV fractures. But in 16 patients over 40 years old with Schatzker V and VI fracture, SF-36 score was lower in all categories, despite that 13 of them had full or partial return to pre-injury levels of functioning

We conclude that the age of patients and the complexity of tibial plateau fractures influence the quality of their life one year post-operative