Clinical Study of Ankle Fracture

The ankle, which at times bears up to five times the body weights, is the most congruous joint of lower extremity, but its complex articulations are as not yet understood completely. The injuries to the ankle joint include not only injuries that cause distruption of the bony architecture of ankle but often injuries of significant syndesmotic ligamentous. One hundred and sixty two cases of ankle fractures in adult which were treated at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, during the period from March, 1982, were analysed clinically and the following results were obtained ; 1) In 162 cases of ankle fractures, 122 cases(77.2%) were male, and the most common cause was traffic accident. The most common type, according to the Lauge-Hansen's classification, was pronation-external rotation with 58 cases(35.8%). 2) According to the Colton's criteria, the result of treatment with open reduction and internal fixation was not comparable to that with closed reduction. 3) Good functional result in ankle fracture and associated ligamentous injuries were depend on three factors such as, anatomic restoration of articular surface, early range of motion, and early weight bearing. 4) For the satisfactory function of the mortise, the fibular must be restored to normal length, correctly positioned in the groove of the tibia, and effectivey anchored to the tibia through the syndesmosis.