• Bjarke Viberg, Silje Kleven, Ellen Hamborg-Petersen, and Ole Skov.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark. Electronic address: bjarke.viberg@rsyd.dk.
• Injury. 2016 Jul 1; 47 (7): 1514-8.

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to evaluate the proportion of complications and the functional outcome following ORIF with low-profile locking plates in patients with distal tibia fractures.MethodRetrospective data was retrieved using county databases, operation books, health record and X-ray images for 6 hospitals (1 level 1, 5 level 2) in the Region of Southern Denmark. Between January 2007 and April 2011 70 consecutive patients with 71 distal tibia fractures were treated with low-profile locking plate were included. The proportion of post-operative complications, classified as minor and major complications, was retrieved from electronic health records and patient interviews. Long-term functional outcome assessed by EuroQol EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot scale, and return to pre-injury job function through patient interview and examination.ResultsThere were 32 43A, 5 43B and 34 43C-fractures, 12 open and 10 high-energy fractures. Forty-nine cases (69%) experienced complications during the follow-up time, of which 34 were minor complications and 15 were major complications. Median EQ-5D-5L index value was 0.76, median EQ VAS-score was 80, and median AOFAS score was 73. Thirty-three percent of working patients had not returned to work as a result of the fracture.ConclusionsOur study suggest that treatment of distal tibia fractures with low-profile locking plates might have a higher proportion of complications and worse functional outcome than previously reported.Level Of EvidenceTherapeutic level IV Case Serie.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

40 keywords...

hide…