Muhammad Noman Iqbal, Zaki Idrees, Muhammad Kazim, Rahim Najjad, Syed Amir Ali Shah.
Fixation of unstable ankle fractures: current perspectives and their outcomes.
Pak J Surg Jan ;31(2):137-41.

Objective: To assess the recovery of function in different age groups with variable fracture pattern after internal fixation of unstable ankle fractures. Design: Prospective descriptive study. Setting and duration: Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi from February 2011 to September 2011. Methods: We treated 71 unstable ankle fractures in our centre. Aft er initial emergency care and assessment, patients were admitted and after informed consent, fractures were treated surgically through open reduction and internal fixation. These patients were evaluated at 6 months follow up visit with American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society clinical scoring system (AOFAS). Results: In our study out of total 71 patients with mean age of 38.34 years, higher number of patients (58 patients) i.e. 81.69% achieved satisfactory functional outcome at 6 months. Younger patients (age <40) showed a better recovery. Older age, trimalleolar fracture patterns, male sex and late reporting to hospital were associated with delay in functional recovery. Conclusions: Internal fixation of unstable ankle fractures was associated with good functional recovery. Age, fracture pattern and reporting time to hospital were major predictors of the functional outcome.

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