RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Subtalar pain following intra-articular calcaneus fractures may be associated with disability, pain, and a negative impact on the quality of life. Salvage procedures as subtalar fusion are associated with further consequences as stiffness, altered ankle biomechanics, and adjacent articular overloading with degenerative changes. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the short-term effects of viscosupplementation with intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) on function and pain, in patients with painful subtalar joint after calcaneus fracture. METHODS: We searched for patients who underwent osteosynthesis of intra-articular calcaneus fracture between January 2011 and July 2015 and were diagnosed during the follow-up with pain and subtalar osteoarthritis. Between January and December of 2018, 13 patients (50 ± 10 years) accepted to participate in this study and received intra-articular HA injections. Three consecutive doses of 20 mg of HA were administered within a week interval, through anterolateral injections into the subtalar joint. We prospectively evaluated the function using the ankle/hindfoot American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society score (AOFAS) and level of pain using the visual analog scale (VAS) before the intervention and 4, 12, and 24 weeks after the first injection. RESULTS: Hindfoot function improved with an increase of AOFAS from 55 ± 19 before the intervention to 88 ± 20 at the 24th week (P = .001). Similarly, we observed relief of pain during the 24 weeks following intra-articular hyaluronic acid injection, with a decrease in VAS from 8.3 ± 1.3 before treatment to 2.2 ± 3.0 at the 24th week (P = .001). CONCLUSION: For patients experiencing pain and dysfunction with subtalar osteoarthritis after intra-articular calcaneus fracture, viscosupplementation with intra-articular HA may be associated with improvement in function and pain in the short term. Furthermore, patients with higher grades of osteoarthritis may have limited benefit in pain relief and function improvement. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV, Case series.
RESUMEN
Se sabe que la fractura de Tillaux ocurre en adolescentes una vez que ocurre durante el período de transición cuando la fisis medial y central ha finalizado el cierre, pero la fisis lateral todavía está abierta. El mecanismo de traumatismo es típicamente una lesión de tobillo de rotación externa que resulta en una fractura por avulsión del plafón tibial anterolateral. Esta fractura rara vez se ha informado en adultos, especialmente asociada con otras lesiones. Divulgamos un caso de fractura de Tillaux en un adulto, asociado con una fractura de Volkmann y una fractura de Maisonneuve, que se trataron mediante cirugía con reducción abierta y fijación interna y tuvieron un resultado excelente. Reconocer y tratar apropiadamente cada una de estas lesiones es la clave para prevenir artritis e inestabilidad degenerativas.
Tillaux fracture is known to occur in adolescents once it happens during transition period when the medial and central physis has finished closure, but the lateral physis is still opened. The trauma mechanism is typically external rotation ankle injury resulting in an avulsion fracture of the anterolateral tibial plafond. This fracture has rarely been reported in adults, especially associated with others injuries. We report a case of Tillaux fracture in an adult, associated with a Volkmann fracture and a Maisonneuve fracture, that were surgery treated with open reduction and internal fixation and had an excellent outcome. Recognize and appropriately treat each one of these injuries is the key to prevent further degenerative arthritis and instability.