A DELAYED TRANSVERSE AVULSION FRACTURE OF THE SUPERIOR POLE OF THE PATELLA AFTER ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION

Patella fractures following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstru ction using central one third patella-tendon autograft is a recognized although rarely reported complication of this procedure. Twelve repor ts of patella fractures after ACL reconstruction exist in the literatu re, although only half of these fractures occurred postoperatively. Tw o of the nonacute fractures occurred approximately 6 months postoperat ively, one of them being an avulsion of the inferior pole of the patel la and the other being a displaced transverse avulsion fracture of the patella. We report on a nondisplaced transverse avulsion fracture of the superior pole of the patella that occurred 1 year after ACL recons truction despite bone grafting the defect in the patella at the time o f surgery. We are unaware of any report of this kind in the literature .