Mid-term results of ankle fractures with and without syndesmotic rupture

• Two groups of patients with operated ankle fractures analyzed 6 years after surgery.
• Syndesmotic screws were routinely removed after 6–10 weeks.
• Comparable outcome between ankle fractures with and without syndesmotic disruption.
• No differences were seen on functional, clinical and radiographic scores.
• Ankle function restores after 6 years with syndesmotic screws removed (6–10 weeks).

BackgroundsThis study investigated the effect of short term removal of syndesmotic screws on the ankle function after 6 years, as there still exists controversy on the duration of screw stabilization.MethodsPatients with an ankle fracture who received surgery between 1998 and 2004 were reviewed. One group was composed of patients with an ankle fracture needing a syndesmotic repair with screws. The second was composed of operated patients that did not need syndesmotic repair. The primary scoring used was the Olerud–Molander Ankle Score (OMAS).ResultsA total of 59 patients were studied with comparable characteristics, with no significant difference on the OMAS after 6 years between the repair group (81.9) and the non-repair group (90.4). On additional clinical scoring groups remained the same. Joint degeneration was seen in both groups (86.7% vs. 55.5%).ConclusionsPatients with ankle fractures using syndesmotic repair and screw removal after 8 weeks and operated patients without syndesmotic injury have comparable results after 6 years.