Venkata Shyam Prasad Polisetty, Lakshmi Sumana Voruganti
BACKGROUND Ankle fractures are common injuries manifested by orthopaedic surgeons. Incidence of these fractures is increasing in recent times. Management of these fractures is a challenge to the surgeon. They have the potential to produce significant long-term disability and complications in the form of pain, instability, mobility and early degenerative arthritis. As a result of a better understanding of the biomechanics of the ankle, improvements in fixation techniques and findings of outcome studies, there has been a gradual evolution in the effective strategies for the treatment of ankle fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective study from November 2015 to June 2017, 40 cases of bimalleolar fractures of ankle in adults were treated at King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam by surgical intervention and studied for a period of 6 – 18 months. RESULTS Most common cause of ankle fracture is road traffic accident. Supination external rotation and AO type B are most common type of injury. Cases were operated within 2 - 5 days. Malleolar screw and plate and screws were most commonly used for fixation of medial and lateral malleolus respectively. Time for union is 10 weeks. 60 % of cases had excellent results following surgical management. CONCLUSION Ankle fractures are intraarticular injuries prone to arthritis, hence need stable and anatomical alignment with early mobilization to prevent degenerative arthritis. The talus is supported by bicolumnar concept by the malleoli.
