Study on functional outcome of bimalleolar ankle fractures treated by open reduction and internal fixation

Background: Ankle injury is the most common weight bearing orthopaedic musculoskeletal trauma encountered in emergency medicine and practice. Ankle joint is highly congruous and any disturbance of normal articular relationship may result in some progressive arthrosis of biomechanical dysfunction. As with all intra-articular fractures it necessitates accurate reduction and stable internal fixation. The objectives were to study the functional outcome of surgical treatment of bimalleolar ankle fractures and to know the complications of open reduction internal fixation of bimalleolar fractures.Methods: 45 patients with malleolar fractures were included in this prospective longitudinal interventional study. Patients who underwent operative treatment were followed up regularly for 6 months with OPD visits and X-ray imaging at each stage. Patient parameters were recorded at immediate post op period, 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Baird and Jackson scoring system for ankle were used for the functional outcome measurement.Results: Most common type of injury pattern was supination-external rotation with 21 cases (47% of cases). The results are excellent to good in 65% of patients, 27% of patients had fair and 8% had poor result. Syndesmotic screw fixation was done with 4.5 mm cortical screw in 7 cases. Most common complication was surgical site infection in 3 cases (6.67%). 2 patients underwent implant removal due to unresolved infection at 3 months.Conclusions: The results of operative fixation were satisfactory in 90% of patients. Most of the complications were minor and resolved within three weeks.