Predisposing Factors for Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis after Operation for Malleolus Fracture in Patients Aged 50 Years Or Less with a Minimum Follow-Up of 5 Years

Category: Trauma; Ankle Arthritis Introduction/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for posttraumatic osteoarthritis (OA) after surgery for ankle fractures in patients aged 50 years or less. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of consecutive patients who underwent surgery for ankle fractures and were followed up for a minimum period of 5 years. The patients were assigned to 2 group according to the presence of advanced OA at the last follow-up. Binary logistic regression was used to model the correlation between various risk factors and OA. Functional outcomes were assessed using the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score. Results: The data of 332 patients who met the study inclusion criteria were included in the analysis. The overall rate of posttraumatic arthritic change was 27.7% (non-arthritis group: 240 patients, arthritis group: 92 patients). The arthritic change was significantly affected by BMI (p = 0.011; adjusted odds ratio [OR] >= 30, 6.56), fracture-dislocation injury (p = 0.025; adjusted OR, 4.06), posterior malleolus (PM) fracture (p = 0.031, adjusted OR > 25% of the articular surface, 5.72), and postoperative articular incongruence (p = 0.034; adjusted OR, 7.21). The mean scores of the arthritis group were lower than those in the non-arthritis group (p