[The pattern of injuries of the ankle joint in ski boots--a retrospective analysis]

This study is dealing with the analysis of isolated ankle fractures in ski boots which are nowadays very seldom. Modern equipment and excellent prepared skiing facilities reduced this kind of trauma. In the early sixties about 60% of lower extremity injuries were caused by ankle fractures. Now, 25 years later, only 10% of injuries concerning to lower extremity are injuries of medial and lateral ankle or of the talofibular ligaments. At the department of trauma surgery of the university hospital of Innsbruck we use a questionnaire for winter sports injuries. We made a retrospective follow up study of the last three years, in which we found 100 patients with ankle injuries. Pilon tibial- and tibia shaft fractures are not included. The classification was made by the Lauge-Hansen system. Supination-inversion and supination-eversion fractures were found more often than others. Fractures of both medial and lateral ankles were only seen in three cases. One reason for this result could be a lack of movement of the ankle in the ski-boot. Modern plastic boots seem to protect ankle and distal tibia and fibula. Another remarkable result was the fact that we could not find any difference in the types of fractures comparing patients with released and not released bindings.