Application of the circular external fixator on the treatment of spiral and oblique fractures of distal one-third of tibia-fibular / 中国矫形外科杂志

ABSTRACT

[Objective]To observe the clinical effects and the comments of the circular external fixator on the treatment of spiral and oblique fractures of distal one-third of tibia-fibular.[Method]Fifteen patients(11 males,4 females),with a mean age of 38.5 years(range 21 to 57)with spiral and oblique fractures of distal 1/3 of tibia-fibular were treated with circular external fixator from August 2005 to October 2008.The aetiologies of the fractures were as follows8 cases,motor vehicle accident;5 cases,falls;2 cases,crush.All the fractures were closed.Nine cases had skin and soft tissue contusion on the distal leg and ankle.[Result]All patients were followed up and acquired the bony union.The mean follow-up time was 10.5 months(range 6～30 months).The mean framing time was 4.5 months(range 2.5～9 months).None of the patients had soft tissues infection and osteomyelitis.None of the patients suffered from the complications such as shortness,angulation,rotation deformity.None of the patients suffered from refracture after removal of the frame.Three patients had pin tract infection and were treated by oral antibiotics.Four patients had loss of range of motion in the ankle after the removal of the frame.These 4 patients had loss of mean 5-degree dorsiflexion and mean 10-degree plantar-flexion.All the patients had full knee function.[Conclusion]The circular external fixator may be used as an alternative method in the treatment of spiral and oblique fractures of distal 1/3 of tibia-fibular and the patients can avoid suffering from the removal of internal fixators.