ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the factors influencing the prognosis of talar neck fractures of Hawkins type Ⅲ.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed of the 18 patients with complete follow-up data who had been treated from October 2013 to December 2016 at Department of Orthopedic Trauma, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital for talar neck fractures of Hawkins type Ⅲ. They were 14 males and 4 females with an average age of 35.1 years (range, from 17 to 50 years). There were 3 open fractures. All the patients were treated with one-stage open reduction and internal fixation. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scoring system was used to evaluate the functions of ankle and hindfoot during follow-up. The correlations were analyzed between the ankle-hindfoot AOFAS scores and the factors which might have influenced the prognosis, like gender, age, smoking, alcoholic drinking, body mass index, injury cause, medial malleolus osteotomy/fracture, combined fracture, open injury, interval from injury to surgery, operation time, implants (cannulated/plate or Kirschner wire) and infection.Results:The 18 patients were followed up for 21 to 41 months (average, 29.3 months). Of them, 3 had superficial infection which responded to anti-inflammatory therapy and 3 had deep infection which was improved after debridement in 2 cases and led to eventual removal of the talus in one. Tibiotalar arthritis occurred in 6 patients and subtalar arthritis in 10. The AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scores at the last follow-up for this cohort ranged from 12 to 96 points (average, 63.4 points). Ischemic necrosis of the talus was observed in 6 cases and talar collapse in one. The ankle-hindfoot AOFAS scores were strongly correlated with open fracture ( P=0.015,) operation time ( P=0.001), Kirschner wire fixation ( P=0.006), and postoperative infection ( P=0.008). Conclusions:Since open fracture, operation time ≥3 h, Kirschner wire fixation and postoperative infection may be the significant factors that may influence the prognosis of talar neck fractures of Hawkins type Ⅲ, reasonable treatment protocols can help improve the outcomes.