Surgical treatment strategy for tibial pilon fracture / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the surgical treatment strategy for tibial pilon fractures.Methods Forty-seven patients with tibial pilon fractures surgically treated in our hospital from May 2005 to March 2008 were retrospectively studied. There were 37 males and ten females, at mean age of 42 years (range 23-46 years). There were 51 sides of tibial pilon fractures, for four patients were with bilateral tibial pilon fractures. Injury causes included traffic accidents in 34 patients, fall from height in 12 and bruise by heavy objects in five. Open fractures were determined in seven patients and close fractures in 44 patients. According to Ruedi-Allgower classification, there were six sides of type Ⅰ fractures, 28 type Ⅱ fractures and 17 type Ⅲ fractures. According to Tscherna-Grotzen tissue injuries classification,open fractures were determined as 1° in two patients, 2° in three and 3° in two; close injuries were defined as 0° in two patients, 1° in 27 and 2° in 15. Distal tibia was partitioned as anterolateral column,anteromedial column and posterior column in order to select reasonable internal fixation. Eighteen fractures were treated with DePuy T plate, 10 with AO cloverleaf pattern plate, two with AO small T plate,two with locking plate, four with Link anterolateral anatomic plates and 15 with Orthofix overtake-anklejoint outside-fixed frame combined with limited internal fixation. Results The patients were followed up for a mean time of 23 months (range 12-44 months). According to Mazur ankle evaluation grading system, 29 patients were graded as excellent, 13 good, seven fair and two poor, with an excellence rate of 82.4%. Conclusions Correct operation time and treatment plans on the basis of Ruedi-Allgower classification and Tscherne-Gotzen classifications of soft tissues and reasonable internal fixation according to the condition of the involved three column in distal tibia can decrease postoperative complications and achieve good and satisfactory clinical effect.