A prospective observational study of functional outcome of pott’s fracture managed with operative modalities

Abstract

Introduction: The movement around the ankle joint is very important because of the cultural practices, which involve squatting and sitting cross-legged. Bimalleolar Pott’s fractures are very common in ankle joint injuries because of the increased incidence of road traffic accidents and industrial trauma. Accurate reduction of fractures around the ankle joint is important for a painless ankle joint. AIM: To study the functional outcome of surgically managed closed bimalleolar fractures of the ankle in adults; to evaluate the restoration of the anatomy of malleoli and ankle perfectly by operative treatment with internal fixation; to assess the union of fractures after surgical management; and to achieve stable fixation and early mobilization of the ankle. Materials and Methods: We have evaluated clinical, radiological and functional outcomes of 50 patients treated with different treatment modalities, which include - tension band wiring (TBW), Kirschner (K)-wire, malleolar screw (MS) and cannulated cancellous screws (CCS) for medial malleolus fracture and rush nail, one-third tubular plate, fibular locking plate for lateral malleolus fracture. Results: The present study of 50 patients with ankle fractures treated by open reduction and internal fixation. Excellent results were achieved in 27 (54%) patients, good in 14 (28%), Fair in 5 (10%) and Poor in 4 (8%) patients. The patient with poor results had mild pain with activities of daily living, diminution in the abilities to run and to do work, the reduced motion of the ankle and narrowing of joint space.Conclusion: Closed treatment is often inadequate for restoring the proper biomechanics and anatomical structure of an injured ankle joint, internal fixation is an excellent method. Treating malleolar fractures with the use of anatomic fixation and open reduction was found to be very effective.