Functional and radiological outcome of ORIF in bimalleolar and Trimalleolar fractures of ankle: A prospective study

Abstract

Background: Ankle Fractures are always technically demanding for an Orthopaedic surgeon for management. A stable fracture usually needs minimal splinting whereas unstable fractures need open reduction and internal fixation to achieve near normal anatomical reconstruction. Materials and methods: Our prospective study was conducted on 23 patients fractures in Tirunelveli Medical College Tirunelveli. With a mean age of 36.17 years at surgery. There were 18 male patients and 5 female patients with an incidence of 78.26% and 21.73% respectively. The right ankle joint was involved in 19 patients and left ankle joint in 4 patients. Most of the injuries were due to RTA with 16 patients and 7 patients had injuries due to self fall.Results: The overall results were graded based on Olearud Molander scoring system. Excellent results were achieved in 19 patients (82.60%), good results in 2 patients (8.69%) and poor results in 2 patients (8.69%). Conclusion: In our study, it was observed that the functional outcome of a bimalleolar fracture does not depend upon the type of implant. Irrespective of the implant used, the final functional outcome was similar. Anatomical reduction, restoration of fibular length and stable fixation were found to be essential for achieving good return of joint function.