Results of the surgical treatment of ankle joint fractures

Surgical treatment was applied to 74 cases of ankle joint fractures at the author's hospital, between 1979 and 1984. Follow-up checks were made on 59 patients, within one to seven years from surgery. Luxation fractures accounted for 39 per cent. The rates of wound edge necrosis and bone infection were three per cent each. Results were evaluated by stringent and precisely defined criteria. The worst findings, according to expectation, were recorded from the cases of luxation fractures. Sixty-four per cent of all results were rated good to very good, and 17 per cent were rated poor. The patients' individual assessment was much better, since only three per cent felt that results were inadequate.