Functional Outcomes Following Ankle Fracture Fixation With or Without Ankle Arthroscopy

Acute ankle fracture is one of the commonest fractures of the lower limb. Anatomical reduction and stable fixation remain the main surgical treatment for unstable ankle fractures . However, its final outcomes are not as good as expected . Fracture malunion, failure to address the disrupted syndesmosis and associated ligamentous or chondral lesions can be reasons for poor surgical outcome.

1-mm of lateral talar shift lead to a 42% increase in contact stress, so the anatomic reduction is critical to the long-term integrity of the joint . It is difficult to assess 1 to 2 mm of mal-reduction with C-arm fluoroscopy. The best assessment of the syndesmotic reduction is performed with axial CT imaging of the ankle.

Ankle arthroscopy is expected to be a more sensitive tool for syndesmotic disruption diagnosis and other intra-articular pathologies and as a guide for anatomical reduction of the syndesmosis . Several studies have reported the incidence of chondral lesions seen during ankle arthroscopy at the time of ankle fracture ORIF, but those studies report the role of arthroscopy as a diagnostic or predictive tool for patient outcome. Very few studies have discussed the rates of arthroscopic intervention, the procedures performed, and the association of these procedures with patient final functional outcomes .

Inclusion criteria

• Patients ≥16 years of age who will be managed operatively for:

• rotational ankle fracture Danis-Weber classification B or C fibula fracture
• fracture dislocation ankle
• Fractures extending into the tibial plafond,
• Talus fractures (body or neck) in our institution

Exclusion criteria

Pediatric fractures, Polytrauma patients, Fractures managed with closed-contact casting and, patients with lost follow up during this study