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Suture endobutton for syndesmotic injuries delivered encouraging clinical outcomes
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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Use of a suture endobutton for the treatment of acute syndesmotic injuries provided better anatomical restoration and clinical outcomes in patients younger than 70 years compared with the use of one quadricortical screw, according to a speaker here.
“Our reports support the trends from earlier published studies. To sum it up, patients treated with suture endobutton have better outcome scores, better range of motion, earlier mobilization and better radiographic results at 1 year compared with patients treated with one quadricortical screw,” Mette Andersen, MD, said at the Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting.
Andersen and her colleagues randomized 97 patients between the 18 years and 70 years of age who had syndesmotic injuries into two groups. The suture endobutton (SE) group included 48 patients, and the quadricortical screw (SS) group included 49 patients.
Results showed patients in the SE group had better American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society ankle-hindfoot and Olerud Molander scores at 6 weeks, 6 months and 1 year compared with patients in the SS group. Patients in the SE group had a smaller difference in maximal dorsiflexion between the injured and noninjured side at 6 weeks, 6 months and 1 year compared with the SS group. Furthermore, the tibiofibular distance between the operated and nonoperated ankle of 2 mm or more was higher in the three standardized points (anterior, central and posterior) in the SS group at 1 year. Overall, seven patients in in the SS group were diagnosed with recurrent syndesmotic diastasis during the treatment period compared with no patients in the SE group, Andersen noted.
“One-year follow-up is too short to predict degenerative changes, and longer follow-up is thereby necessary,” she said. “Keep in mind that this was a population below 70 years of age. As far as we know, the use of a suture endobutton in elderly patients with osteoporosis has not been done.” – by Nhu Te
Reference:
Andersen M, et al. Paper #25. Presented at: Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting; Oct. 5-8, 2016; National Harbor, Md.
Disclosure: Andersen reports no relevant financial disclosures.