Objective To compare the effects of cutting and retaining the pes anserinus tendon on effectiveness following tibial plateau fracture. MethodsA clinical data of 40 patients with tibial plateau fracture treated with open reduction and internal fixation with plate via posteromedial approach between January 2015 and January 2020 was retrospectively analyzed, including 18 patients retained the pes anserinus tendon (study group) and 22 patients cut the pes anserinus tendon (control group) during operation. There was no significant difference in gender, age, side of affected knee, cause of injury, Schatzker classification, time from injury to operation, and associated ligament injury between the two groups (P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, anatomic reduction rate, incidence of complications, fracture healing time, knee flexion and extension range of motion at 2 weeks and 12 months, and knee extension range of motion at 3 months after operation were recorded and compared between the two groups. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score was used to evaluate the early postoperative pain improvement at 1, 3, and 14 days after operation and hospital for special surgery (HSS) score was used to evaluate the improvement of knee function at 3, 6, and 12 months after operation. ResultsThe patients in both groups were followed up 12-15 months with an average of 12.8 months. There was no significant difference in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and fracture healing time between the two groups (P>0.05). The hospital stay in the control group was significantly longer than that in the study group (t=8.339, P=0.000). There was no significant difference in the anatomic reduction rate (90.9% vs. 83.3%) between the control group and the study group (χ2=0.058, P=0.810). There were 1 case of proximal tibial osteomyelitis, 3 cases of skin necrosis, 3 cases of traumatic arthritis, and 2 cases of lower deep venous thrombosis after operation in the control group, and 1 case of metaphyseal nonunion, 2 cases of traumatic arthritis, and 1 case of lower deep venous thrombosis in the study group, showing no significant difference in the incidence of complications (40.9% vs. 22.2%) between the two groups (χ2=1.576, P=0.209). In the study group, knee flexion and extension range of motion at 2 weeks and 12 months and knee extension range of motion at 3 months after operation were significantly better than those of the control group (P<0.05). VAS scores and HSS scores in both groups improved with time after operation (P<0.05), in addition, the HSS score and VAS score of the study group were significantly better than those of the control group (P<0.05). ConclusionCompared with traditional pes anserinus tendon cutting group, pes anserinus tendon retaining group can significantly reduce postoperative short-term pain, improve postoperative knee range of motion and knee function within 1 year after operation.