Abstract
The ankle is one of the most resisting to arthritis joints of the body, and the development of degenerative changes in it, always due to a pathologic condition or trauma. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the late post- operative results and the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis in a series of 144 patients with malleolar fractures who have been operated with the principles and methods of AO. To judge our results, we used subjective, objective and X-Ray criteria. The main follow up was 8,6 years, final results were excellent and good in 74,3%, satisfactory in 14,6 and poor in 11,1% while post-traumatic osteoarthritis developed in 22.2% of the cases. The installation of post-traumatic osteoarthritis in malleolar fractures seems to be influenced by factors like age, sex, severity of fracture, quality of reduction and existence of posterior bone fragment bigger than 25% of the joint surface.
The abstracts were prepared by Eleni Koutsoukou. Correspondence should be addressed to him at the Hellenic Association of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (HAOST), 20, A. Fleming str, 15123 Marousi, Athens, Greece.
