Surgical treatment of ankle fracture with or without deltoid ligament repair:a comparative study / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the outcomes of surgical treatment of ankle fracture with or without repair of deltoid ligament(DL) rupture.Methods Between March 2009 and December 2015,75 patients were treated surgically at Department of Foot and Ankle Surgery,Honghui Hospital for ankle fracture with DL rupture.Of them,the DL rupture was repaired in 20(repair group) and not in 54(non-repair group).The 2 groups were compared in terms of pre- and post-operative medial clear space(MCS),rate of radiological MCS malreduction(MCS>5mm),rate of surgical failure,the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society(AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score and visual analogue scale(VAS).The outcomes of AO/OTA types B and C were also compared between the 2 groups.Results The 2 groups were compatible due to insignificant differences in their preoperative general data and follow-up time(46.9±22.5 months versus 56.3±23.9 months)(P>0.05).The MCSs after operation(3.3±0.3 mm) and at the last follow-up(3.2±0.3mm) in the repair group were significantly shorter than those in the non-repair group(3.8±1.0mm and 3.8±1.2mm)(P<0.05).The rate of radiological MCS malreduction in the repair group(0) was significantly lower than that in the non-repair group(20.4%)(P<0.05).There were no significant differences between the 2 group in rate of surgical failure(0 versus 7.4%),AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score(88.0±5.8 versus 85.9±8.7) or VAS(1.2±0.8 versus 1.6±1.6)(P>0.05).The rate of radiological MCS malreduction for AO/OTA type C ankle fracture in the non-repair group was significantly higher than those for AO/OTA types B and C in the repair group and AO/OTA type B in the non-repair group(P<0.05).Conclusion Surgical repair of the DL rupture may help decrease the rate of postoperative MCS malreduction,especially for AO/OTA type C ankle fractures.