Functional outcome and general health status after treatment of AO type 43 distal tibial fractures

IntroductionDistal tibial fractures are uncommon, but they result in poor overall outcome. The objective of this study was to assess functional outcome and general health status after the treatment of distal tibial fractures and identify factors that affect these outcome measures.Patients and methodsA retrospective cohort study including 118 AO type 43 distal tibial fractures in 116 patients was conducted. With regard to articular involvement, fractures were classified as either simple (A1-B2, n = 70) or complex (B3-C3, n = 48). Twenty relevant demographic and operative variables were studied. Functional outcome, quality of life and pain were assessed using the Foot Function Index (FFI) and AOFAS ankle score, physical and mental SF-36, and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) questionnaires, respectively.ResultsOver 75% of patients experienced noteworthy loss of ankle function. The general health status assessment showed markedly affected quality of life with more than two-third of all responding patients suffering from pain every day. In fact, complex fractures and increased complication rate were associated with worse functional outcome, whereas prolonged time to definite surgery affected both functional outcome and general health status significantly.ConclusionsComplex distal tibial fractures were associated with poor functional outcome scores and delayed (-staged) surgery has been shown to prevent postoperative soft tissue problems. However, soft tissue injury associated with distal tibial fractures itself affected both the postoperative functional outcome and general health status as well. This should contribute to the understanding of treatment and outcome of distal tibial fractures.Level of evidence3.