Abstract
Introduction
The incidence of osteochondral lesions following ankle fractures varies in the literature between 17-70%. They are commonly associated with chronic pain and swelling in patients diagnosed with such pathology. There is less evidence about the relationship between OCL and the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis, the most common type of ankle arthritis.
Methods
Through the use of MRI 8 weeks following ankle fractures, we investigated the incidence of OCL in patients treated both surgically and conservatively for ankle fractures of all AO subtypes.
Results
29 patients met our inclusion criteria, 16 females: 13 males with a mean age of 36 (range 16-64). Twelve patients required surgery with seventeen treated conservatively. The majority of patients (11) were classified as 44B1 fractures with the 44C1 and 44B2 the next most common. We did not detect any OCL in any patient but 65% of patients had both a tibiotalar effusion and associated bone bruising.
Conclusion
Contrary to the current literature, we did not associate ankle fractures of any subtype with the development of OCL. Future evaluation of this same cohort will be necessary to evaluate the incidence of post traumatic ankle osteoarthritis.
