Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2024
Abstract
Rotational malleolar fractures result in a high prevalence of intra-articular pathologies; therefore, routine arthroscopic assessment may be beneficial in the surgical treatment of ankle fractures. However, the clinical studies regarding the effectiveness of arthroscopy thus far have mixed results. We investigated the efficacy of concurrent arthroscopy during the treatment of malleolar fractures using a large U.S. healthcare data set. Those who had arthroscopy were compared with those who did not, during the surgical treatment of malleolar fractures, while adjusting for covariates of clinical relevance. The analysis showed that concurrent arthroscopy is protective against postoperative repeat surgery (OR = 0.13, 95CI = 0.02-0.41) and wound dehiscence (OR = 0.18, 95CI = 0.03-0.56). The number of added arthroscopy cases needed to avoid one repeat surgery was 74, while that of wound dehiscence was 52. Further studies are needed to determine if routine use of arthroscopy is justifiable in the surgical treatment of malleolar fractures, given the additional costs and time to the healthcare system.
Recommended Citation
Naohiro Shibuya DPM, MS, FACFAS , Daniel C. Jupiter Ph.D. , Effectiveness of Concurrent Ankle Arthroscopy During Open Reduction and Internal Fixation of Malleolar Fractures in Prevention of Common Short-term Complications, The Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery (2024), https://doi.org/10.1053/j.jfas.2024.02.007
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
The Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery
Academic Level
faculty
DOI
10.1053/j.jfas.2024.02.007
Comments
Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1053/j.jfas.2024.02.007