ORIF can be good option for treatment of trimalleolar ankle fractures

NEW ORLEANS — Posterolateral buttress plating can be a good option for patients with trimalleolar ankle fractures, according to study presented here at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.

“[Open reduction internal fixation] ORIF of posterior malleolar fractures may yield better outcomes compared to [anterior-to-posterior] AP percutaneous fixation,” Benjamin Mueller, MD, PhD, said in his presentation, here.

In a retrospective comparative study of 27 patients with posterior malleolar fracture who were treated between 2002 and 2010, Mueller and colleagues found that 16 patients had undergone posterolateral buttress plating and 11 patients had AP lag screws. Focal points of the study were the short musculoskeletal functional assessment (SMFA), ankle range of motion, quality of reduction and development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

Patients in the posterolateral plate group had better short musculoskeletal functional assessment outcomes and function mobility index scores at all points of follow-up. However, Mueller said these patients had a higher instance of post-traumatic osteoarthritis than patients in the AP group. He attributed this difference to a follow-up of 55 months in the posterolateral group compared to the 32-month follow-up for patients in the AP group.

One patient in each group underwent hardware removal, he said. No infections or loss of fixation were reported. –by Christian Ingram

Reference:

Mueller B. Paper #64. Presented at the: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; March 11-14, 2014; New Orleans.

Disclosure: Mueller has no relevant financial disclosures.