A 32-year-old motorcyclist strikes his flexed knee against a car bumper. Anteroposterior and lateral knee radiographs appear near-normal apart from an effusion, but he has persistent hemarthrosis and medial joint line tenderness. CT scan demonstrates a sagittal split confined to the posterior half of the medial femoral condyle. This fracture pattern is best described as:

• A Hoffa fracture ✓
• B Schatzker Type II tibial plateau fracture
• C Segond fracture
• D Tibial spine avulsion fracture

Explanation

B Hoffa fracture is a unicondylar coronal-plane shear fracture of the distal femur, classically caused by a dashboard-type axial load on a flexed knee. It is frequently missed on plain films because the fracture line runs perpendicular to the lateral beam and requires CT for diagnosis. Displaced Hoffa fractures need anatomic reduction and lag screw fixation because the posterior condyle fragment lacks soft tissue attachment and displaces readily.

Reference: Rockwood and Green's Fractures in Adults, 9th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.