AO/OTA classification of distal femur fractures
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Andrew Murphy had no recorded disclosures.
View Andrew Murphy's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:
- Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
- Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosures- AO classification of distal femoral fractures
- OTA classification of distal femoral fractures
The AO/OTA classification of distal femoral fractures is a commonly used fracture classification system in orthopedic trauma.
Classification
In the AO/OTA classification system, the distal femur system's prefix is 33, indicating the femur (3) and the distal portion of the femur (3) 1. Each long bone has a single number with the parts of the bone denoted numerically: the proximal end is 1, the diaphysis is 2, and the distal end is 3.
The AO/OTA classification divides distal femoral fractures into three groups: A, B, and C, with complexity and severity increasing 1:
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33A: extra-articular
33A1: avulsion
33A2: simple
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33A3: wedge or multifragmentary
33A3.1 intact wedge
33A3.2 fragmentary wedge
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33B: partial articular, the fracture involves one part of the articular surface, yet the rest of the joint is still attached to the metaphysis and diaphysis
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33B1: lateral sagittal
33B1.1 through the notch
33B1.2 through load-bearing lateral condyle
33B1.3 sagittal fragmentary
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33B2: medial sagittal
33B2.1 through the notch
33B2.2 through load-bearing medial condyle
33B2.3 sagittal fragmentary
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33B3: frontal/coronal
33B3.1 anterior and lateral flake fracture
33B3.2 unicondylar posterior
33B3.3 bicondylar posterior
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33C: complete articular, the fracture is distributing the joint surface and separated from the diaphysis
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33C1: simple articular
33C1.1 above transcondylar axis
33C1.3 through or below transcondylar axis
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33C2: simple articular with a fragmentary metaphyseal component
33C2.1 intact metaphyseal wedge
33C2.1 fragmentary metaphyseal wedge
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33C3: multifragmentary articular
33C3.1 simple metaphyseal
33C3.2 wedge metaphyseal
33C3.3 metaphysio-diaphyseal multifragmentary
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References
- 1. Meinberg E, Agel J, Roberts C, Karam M, Kellam J. Fracture and Dislocation Classification Compendium—2018. J Orthop Trauma. 2018;32(1):S1-S10. doi:10.1097/bot.0000000000001063 - Pubmed
- 2. Femur. J Orthop Trauma. 2018;32 Suppl 1(1):S33-44. doi:10.1097/BOT.0000000000001058 - Pubmed
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