Diagnosis and operative treatment of occult osteochondral avulsion fracture of the ankle joint / 中国矫形外科杂志

ABSTRACT

[Objective] To disuse the traumatic mechanism,clinical feature and treatment of the occult osteochondral avulsion of the posterior ankle joint.[Method]The data of 6 patients had been reviewed.From 2003.9 to 2006.6,6 patients had been treated,including 4 male and 2 female,with the average ages of 31.7 years(27~38 years).They all had injury history of their ankle but no fracture or dislocation had been found in X-ray film immediatey after the trauma.Four of them had been treated by plastic cast fixation of their ankle for 3 weeks,2 received treatment without fixation,but all the patients suffered pain and tenderness in the medial-posterior or the lateral-posterior of the ankle with leg or/and food radiation.The symptoms were persistent even when they were rest.The diagnosis of osteochondrl avulsion fracture had not been made until they were admitted in 4 mouth to 1 year after the injury.The fractured bone debris were showed by X-ray film and CT scan.All patients had been treated by operation of ablating the fractured fragment.[Result]All symptoms in the ankle had disappeared 2~3 days after the operation and no recurrence during 6 mouth to 2 years follow up.[Conclusion]It shoud be attaching importance to the occult osteochondral avulsion in early time after ankle injury,and when the diagnosis is made,operation is the appropriate treatment.