Sendhilvelan Rajagopalan1, Navin Gnanasekaran2, Vishal Upadhyay3, Anurag Sangar4, Heath Taylor5
BACKGROUND
Syndesmotic disruptions are often seen in ankle fractures. Malreduction of these fractures can result in arthritis and instability. A proportion of these patients with malreduction require revision fixation. This study presents the results of revision fixation in such patients, using the Ankle TightRope® (Arthrex) system.
METHODS
Between January 2000 to December 2009, 124 patients who underwent ankle fracture fixations with syndesmotic stabilisation were analysed. Out of 124 patients, 8 patients were diagnosed with failure of primary stabilisation (based on radiological and clinical criteria) and subjected to revision fixation using the Ankle TightRope® (Arthrex) system. Followup was done at periodic time intervals of 3, 6 and 12 months. Both clinical and radiological assessment was performed. Complications and duration of hospital stay was recorded. Functional evaluation was performed using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scoring system.
RESULTS
Five patients had good results, one satisfactory and two had poor outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS
Ankle TightRope® fixation is an alternative method of stabilisation in patients who require revision syndesmosis fixation. Further studies are required to evaluate this method of revision stabilisation as compared to screws.
