Review article: Ankle intra-articular haematoma block for reduction of unstable ankle fractures in the emergency department: An integrative review.

Abstract

A review was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of the intra-articular haematoma block (IAHB) for manipulation of ankle fractures in ED. Any study investigating the success of IAHB for ankle fracture reduction published in English was sought. Seven databases were searched. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to quality assess the included studies. Three studies met the inclusion criteria (n=436 patients). Just one study was a randomised controlled trial (n=42). The two non-randomised studies that included the majority of patients were assessed as at high overall risk of bias. The studies reported no significant difference in the overall rate of successful reduction or patient-reported pain scores between IAHB and procedural sedation groups. A subgroup analysis in one study suggested timelier reduction by 51.4min (P=0.01) for fractures involving subluxation when using IAHB, but that more patients with dislocation were reduced on first attempt when using procedural sedation compared to IAHB (74.0% vs 54.8%, P < 0.01). No adverse events were reported from using IAHB, although no study measured events such as joint sepsis or chondrolysis. Findings suggest that IAHB might be safe and effective but the evidence is very limited. High-quality research is required before IAHB can be considered a routine alternative. However, IAHB could be considered in situations where the risk of procedural sedation outweighs the likely very low risk of chondrolysis.