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Purpose: This study analyzed the follow-up results of lateral ankle instability patients without surgery that were recommended surgery from other hospitals. Materials and Methods: From May 2009 to December 2016, a retrospective study was conducted on 55 chronic lateral ankle instability patients at least five years of follow-up and an average of seven years or more. Nonoperative treatment was performed after one time of rehabilitation exercise training at the authors’ hospital. At the final follow-up, a physical examination and sports activity survey were done. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Foot Function Index (FFI), and Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) scale were measured, respectively. For 37 patients who revisited, an anterior drawer test was done. In addition, the progression of arthritis was confirmed by a weight-bearing radiographic examination and instability was checked in stress radiographic examination. Results: The average follow-up period of the 55 patients was 88.78 (60–136) months. The average VAS was 0.98 (0–4). None of the patients had restrictions of activities of daily living. For 37 patients who revisited, at the final follow-up, the mean FFI score was 11.27 (1–45), and the FAAM subscale scores were 79.35 (activities of daily living subscale) and 27.08 (sports subscale), respectively. As a result of the physical examination, the mean grade of anterior drawer test decreased from 2.08 at the first visit to 2.02 at the final follow-up. At the final follow-up, radiological examination showed no case of progression of degenerative arthritis of the ankle joint. The average value of anterior drawer stress X-ray was measured from 5.64 mm at the first visit to 5.47 mm (contralateral side 4.99 mm) at the final follow-up, and the average value of varus stress X-ray was measured from 12.03° at the first visit to 13.62° (contralateral side 10.62°) at the final follow-up. Conclusion: In lateral ankle instability patients with nonoperative treatment after an average follow-up of more than seven years, ankle functions were good. There were no cases of progression to degenerative arthritis on radiological examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of the electronic foot function index (eFFI) through a prospective, random based, multi-institutional study. Materials and Methods: The study included 227 patients ranging in age from 20 to 79 years, visited for surgery in different 15 institutes, and agreed to volunteer. The patients were assigned randomly into a paper-based evaluated group (n=113) and tablet-based evaluated group (n=114). The evaluation was done on the day of hospital admission and the method was changed on the second day of surgery and re-evaluated. PADAS 2.0 (https://www.proscore.kr) was used as an electronic evaluation program. Results: There were no differences in age and sex in both groups. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) evaluation revealed an eFFI ICC of 0.924, showing that both results were similar. The evaluation time was shorter in the tablet-based group than the paperbased group (paper vs tablet, 3.7±3.8 vs 2.3±1.3 minutes). Thirty-nine patients (17.2%) preferred to use paper and 131 patients (57.7%) preferred the tablet. Fifty-seven patients (25.1%) found both ways to be acceptable. Conclusion: eFFI through tablet devices appears to be more constant than the paper-based program. In addition, it required a shorter amount of time and the patients tended to prefer the tablet-based program. Overall, tablet and cloud system can be beneficial to a clinical study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate risk factors for wrist stiffness after treatment of distal radius fractures. Materials and Methods: A total of 55 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with distal radius fracture at the current authors' institution and followed-up for at least 6 months were included in this retrospective study. Data on all factors related to wrist stiffness were considered. The degree of association for each of the factors was determined by calculation of the odds ratio (OR), with a 95% confidence interval. Logistic regression analyses were performed. p-value was set below 0.05. Results: Among radiologic indexes reflecting the degrees of fracture reduction, only ulnar variance showed significant association with wrist stiffness of distal radius fracture (p＜0.05). In univariate analysis, age (p=0.037; OR, 1.051) and diabetes mellitus (DM) (p=0.016; OR, 8.000) showed significant association with wrist stiffness. Various factors significant at the p-value less than 0.20 level in univariate analyses were included in the multivariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, only DM (p=0.034; OR, 6.588) showed significant association with wrist stiffness. Conclusion: Contraction of DM is critical to avoid wrist stiffness of distal radius fracture patients. In addition, ulnar variance was considered a significant factor of wrist stiffness in distal radius fracture patients, thus reduction of fracture could be done more in proximity to normal anatomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]