[Aftercare of malleolar fractures in Denmark. A questionnaire study]

A questionnaire was sent out to 59 orthopaedic departments. Seventy-eight percent returned the questionnaire. Four thousand two hundred ankle fractures are treated annually. Fifty percent are operated on (range 12.5-83%). Large departments are on average more surgically active than smaller ones. The noticeable difference, however, in surgical frequency is not connected to size, function or location of orthopaedic department. All fractures are usually immobilized with a circular plaster bandage. Thirty percent use dynamic bandages for some stable ankle fractures. Eighty-five percent bandage for six weeks, 15% for up to eight weeks. Very few allow early mobilization of surgically treated fractures (6%). The rest do not allow mobilization until at least three weeks after surgery. Stable fractures are more frequently permitted immediate mobilization. Several randomized studies recommend that all ankle fractures should be mobilized immediately, surgically treated in a circular plaster bandage, stable fractures in dynamic bandages.