Radiographic Outcomes of Flexible and Rigid Fixation Techniques of Syndesmotic Injuries Across Various Body Mass Indices: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

In the setting of ankle trauma, surgical management of syndesmosis injury involves screw fixation and suture button technique. The efficacy of flexible (suture button) versus rigid (screw) fixation in the management of syndesmotic injury has been investigated extensively in current literature. There is sparse data comparing these two techniques across different body mass indices (BMI). In this study, two fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeons at urban level-1 trauma centers reviewed blinded post-operative ankle radiographs of BMI-stratified patients undergoing syndesmotic fixation. A total of 79 patients were included for analysis based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. There were 42 patients in the screw fixation group and 37 patients in the suture button group. The average follow-up period was 5.5 months. No significant difference was found in the average radiographic measurements when comparing the two fixation types, regardless of BMI parameters. This was consistent when analyzing individual fixation types stratified by BMI, as well as when comparing BMI groups stratified by fixation type. Additionally, the distribution of body mass index was even across both fixation types. Our study demonstrates that both fixation groups achieved comparable anatomic ankle reduction regardless of body mass index. The authors suggest expanding the indication of suture button fixation to include the higher body mass index patients.