# Tibial Plateau Fractures: Not an Elegy to Football Practice

**Authors:** Tiago B Cunha, António Neto, Nuno Pereira, Cristina M Baptista, Maria Inês V Cabral, Diogo Portugal

PMC · DOI: 10.7759/cureus.92295 · 2025-09-14

## TL;DR

A 37-year-old athlete recovered and resumed playing futsal after a rare tibial plateau fracture, which is uncommon in sports.

## Contribution

Reports a rare case of a tibial plateau fracture in a futsal athlete with successful recovery.

## Key findings

- Tibial plateau fractures are rare in sports and usually result from high-impact trauma.
- The patient resumed playing sports nine months post-injury, a rare outcome for such complex fractures.

## Abstract

Tibial plate fractures are rare in sports and often associated with high-impact trauma. The most usual classification used in tibial plate fractures is the Schatzker Classification, graded from I to VI, according to the level of comminution of the lesion. There is a scarcity of reports of athletes who have suffered this kind of fracture while playing football or futsal. We present a report of a 37-year-old athlete who suffered a Schatzker V fracture while playing futsal. The athlete had surgical intervention by means of open reduction internal fixation with a plate and screws and was enrolled in a rehabilitation program focusing on quadriceps strengthening and gait training. Nine months after the fracture, our patient resumed playing, an outcome that is quite rare in these complex lesions.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** Tibial Plateau Fractures (MESH:D000092463), Schatzker V fracture (MESH:D050723), trauma (MESH:D014947), Tibial plate fractures (MESH:D013978)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Figures

4 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12522494/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12522494