Locking plate can prevent the loss of reduction for intra-articular calcaneal fractures / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Comminuted intra-articular fractures of the calcaneus are difficult to treat, and inappropriate treatment will lead to some sequelae such as talalgia, traumatic arthritis and flatfoot, which do harm to functional recovery. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of locking and traditional plates for intra-articular calcaneal fractures METHODS: Seventy-six patients (94 feet) with intra-articular calcaneal fractures were enrolled, and received open reduction and plate internal fixation. All patients were allotted to two groups based on the fixation materials, including locking plate and traditional plate groups. The healing time, AOFAS scores, Visual Analogue Scale scores, loss of Bohler angle and adverse events were compared between groups. In addition, the loss of Bohler angle of osteoporotic patients was compared between groups.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: There were no significant differences in the healing time, AOFAS scores, Visual Analogue Scale scores and Bohler angle between two groups after surgery (P > 0.05). But for osteoporotic patients,compared with the traditional plate group, the loss of Bohler angle was smaller in the locking plate group. These results suggest that the various clinical and radiographic indicators of locking plate and traditional plate for intra-articular calcaneal fractures show no significant differences. For osteoporotic patients, locking plate has certain advantages in preventing loss of joint reduction, but large-size trials are needed.