Purpose: Fractures of the calcaneus remain a significant clinical challenge. Little study has been done to investigate the potential benefit of bone graft in the treatment of these fractures. The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical outcome of calcaneus fractures treated with and without ICBG.
Method: In an ongoing study at a Level I Trauma Center 45 patients with calcaneus fractures requiring operative management were enrolled in a prospective, randomized study. 24 patients were randomized to ORIF without graft (control) and 24 patients were randomized to ORIF with ICBG (study group). Demographic, intra-operative and long term clinical outcome data was collected. Outcome measures included pain scores, Creighton-Nebraska Foot Scores, time to weight bearing, return to work and wound complications.
Results: The groups showed no differences in gender, age, mechanism of injury, fracture classification or time to surgery (avg. 12 days). Tscherne scores at presentation differed, with higher average scores in the control group. There were 2 open fractures in each group. The groups showed no statistically significant differences in any of the clinical outcome measures. There was no difference in pain scores (control mean 2.6 vs. study mean 4.1, p = 0.1), Creighton-Nebraska Scores (control 71 vs. study 55, p = 0.1), time to weight bearing (control 2.6 months vs. study 2.7 months, p = 0.9). At 6 months 38% of controls had returned to work (with 87% of those returning to the some occupation) while 39% of the study group returned to work (71% to same occupation). An overall wound complication rate of 27% was seen with 30% of controls and 24% of study patients exhibiting wound issues.
Conclusion: In this prospective randomized study, patients treated with ORIF for calcaneus fractures showed no difference in clinical outcomes with or without the addition of ICBG. No clear benefit is demonstrated to warrant the additional operative time, pain and possible complications that have been previously documented to be associated with ICBG.
