ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of buttress plating for patients with posterior pilon fracture.Methods From April 2012 to January 2015,12 patients with posterior pilon fracture of the distal tibia were treated in our hospital.They were 7 men and 5 women,30 to 56 years of age (average,41.2 years).According to the CT classification by Haraguchi et al.,5 cases belonged to type I,3 to type Ⅱ and 4 to type Ⅲ.All the patients underwent open reduction and internal fixation with buttress plate via either a posterolateral approach or a dual posterolateral-posteromedial approach.All the patients were available for follow-up.The clinical outcomes were evaluated using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score and the visual analogue scale (VAS).The radiological evaluation was performed using the osteoarthritis-score (OA-score).Results The patients obtained an average follow-up of 21.2 months (range,from 12 to 30 months).Bone fractures united after an average of 15 weeks (range,from 13 to 19 weeks).The time for full weight walking averaged 16 weeks,ranging from 15 to 23 weeks.The ankle plantar flexion ranged from 36° to 42° (average,40.4°);the ankle dorsal extension ranged from 38° to 44° (average,42.6°).At the final follow-ups,the AOFAS scores ranged from 82 to 97 (average,88.2);the OA-score ranged from 0.6 to 0.8 (average,0.71);the VAS scores during rest,active motion and weight-bearing walking ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 (average,0.66),from 0.6 to 0.9 (average,0.82) and from 1.2 to 1.8 (average,1.41),respectively.No fracture malunion,implant loosening,pain or stiffness of the affected ankle was observed at the final follow-ups.Conclusion Buttress plating for posterior pilon fractures can lead to satisfactory clinical outcomes,because it ensures rigid fixation which in turn enables earlier postoperative mobilization.