RESEARCH ARTICLE


Multifragmentary Tibial Pilon Fractures: Midterm Results After Osteosynthesis with External Fixation and Multiple Lag Screws



Johannes Kiene* , Jan Herzog, Christian Jürgens , Andreas Paech
Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, UKSH-Lübeck, Germany


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Creative Commons License
© Kiene et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, UKSH-Lübeck, Germany; Tel: +49-4515006355; Fax: +49-4515003647; E-mail: Johannes.Kiene@uksh.de


Abstract

Osteosynthesis of intraarticular tibial pilon fractures is preferably achieved using locking plates via a minimally invasive technique. If combined with severe soft tissue damage there is a high risk of wound-healing deficits after plate osteosynthesis. Thus our aim was to find an alternative method of treatment for those cases with combined soft tissue injuries.

We report on five cases with comminuted fractures of the joint surface combined with critical soft tissue condition that were treated with lag screws and external fixation (AO) applied across the ankle joint. All five patients were followed up, undergoing clinical and radiological examination.

Using this approach we achieved fracture healing of comminuted fractures without further complications. Clinical follow-up after an average of 55.6 (36–75) months revealed a mean AOFAS score of 81 (62–100).

We therefore propose combined treatment using lag screws with external fixation as a practical treatment option for those fractures for which lag screws combined with a locking plate are not feasible or when there is a high risk of wound-healing deficits due to severe soft tissue damage.

Keywords: Pilon fracture, critical soft tissue, external fixation, lag screw.