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Mid-term results of ankle fractures with and without syndesmotic rupture
Egbert J D Veen1, Rutger G Zuurmond1
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Isala Clinics, PO Box 10400, 8000 GK Zwolle, The Netherlands.
Backgrounds:
This study investigated the effect of short term removal of syndesmotic screws on the ankle function after 6 years, as there still exists controversy on the duration of screw stabilization.
Methods:
Patients with an ankle fracture who received surgery between 1998 and 2004 were reviewed. One group was composed of patients with an ankle fracture needing a syndesmotic repair with screws. The second was composed of operated patients that did not need syndesmotic repair. The primary scoring used was the Olerud-Molander Ankle Score (OMAS).
Results:
A total of 59 patients were studied with comparable characteristics, with no significant difference on the OMAS after 6 years between the repair group (81.9) and the non-repair group (90.4). On additional clinical scoring groups remained the same. Joint degeneration was seen in both groups (86.7% vs. 55.5%).
Conclusions:
Patients with ankle fractures using syndesmotic repair and screw removal after 8 weeks and operated patients without syndesmotic injury have comparable results after 6 years.
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