Early Corrections after Failed Ankle Fracture Fixation.

Even minor residual fragment malpositioning after internal fixation of ankle fractures is associated with a worse prognosis. Frequent causes for non-anatomical reduction are fibular shortening due to comminuted fractures or poor bone quality, translational or rotational malpositioning of the distal fibula within the tibial incisura with unstable syndesmosis injuries, and inadequately addressed bony avulsions of the tibiofibular syndesmosis. After operative treatment of fracture dislocations with syndesmotic fixation, in case of complex fracture pathoanatomy, and with suspected non-anatomic reduction in postoperative radiographs, computed tomography imaging of both ankles should be performed. Correction of relevant malreductions should be performed as early as possible in order to speed up rehabilitation and to avoid late sequelae due to a load shift or instability in a weight-bearing joint.
Competing Interests: Christine Marx, Klaus-Dieter Schaser and Stefan Rammelt received travel and accommodation costs from the AO Foundation. This does not result in any conflicts of interest for the content presented in the present work./Christine Marx, Klaus-Dieter Schaser und Stefan Rammelt erhielten Reise- und Unterbringungskosten von der AO Foundation. Hieraus resultieren keine Interessenkonflikte für die in der vorliegenden Arbeit dargestellten Inhalte.
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