Hoffa fracture: fixation using headless compression screws

Hoffa fractures are uni- or bicondylar fractures of the distal femur in a coronal tangential plane.

We report the case of an isolated, low energy, closed, displaced, lateral femoral condyle Hoffa fracture in a 54 year old Caucasian man. This was treated by open reduction and internal fixation using two headless compression screws. At 1 year review the patient was pain free, the fracture had radiographically united and there was a range of movement to his knee of 0°–100°.

Traditional methods of fixation for Hoffa fractures have led either to the application of complicated constructs attempting to achieve stability, or to large articular surface defects created whilst countersinking headed lag screws. Both have negative implications for the patient. We describe a novel method, not previously described in the literature, using screws in a posterior to anterior direction. This provides compression perpendicular to the fracture site whilst protecting against shear and torsional forces, thereby providing more stable fixation. Furthermore, our method allows for a minimally invasive approach and uses headless compression screws, which reduces the chance of damage to the articular surface and is, therefore, less physiologically invasive.