McDonald Matthew R, Bulka Catherine M, Thakore Rachel V, Obremskey William T, Ehrenfeld Jesse M, Jahangir A Alex, Sethi Manish K
*School of Medicine, Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute Center for Health Policy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; Deptartments of †Anesthesiology, and ‡Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation; Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute Center for Health Policy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
J Orthop Trauma. 2014 Sep;28(9):538-41. doi: 10.1097/BOT.0000000000000052.
To evaluate the utility of postoperative ankle radiographs via a comparison of complication rates among patients who had ankle radiographs in the early postoperative period versus those who obtained radiographs in a delayed fashion.
Retrospective chart review.
Urban level I trauma center.
PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Approximately 1411 patients who underwent surgical fixation of an ankle fracture between 2001 and 2010 who received postoperative ankle radiographs in postoperative days 7-120.
Patients were identified using a current procedural terminology search and were divided between 2 groups based on the timing of the first postoperative ankle radiograph. Each chart was reviewed for complications.
The rate of complications for patients with early postoperative ankle radiographs (7-21 days) was compared with those of patients with late postoperative radiographs (22-120 days) using χ and Fisher exact tests.
Approximately 889 patients were included in the early group and 522 patients were in the late group. Overall, 93 patients with complications were identified (6.59%): 62 patients (6.97%) in the early group and 31 patients (5.93%) in the late group. The results showed no statistically significant difference in the rate of complications between the early and late groups.
There is insufficient evidence to suggest that complication rates following ankle fracture fixation differ by the timing of postoperative radiographs. This investigation questions the justification of routine radiographs of operatively treated ankle fractures.
Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
通过比较术后早期进行踝关节X线检查的患者与延迟进行X线检查的患者的并发症发生率，评估术后踝关节X线检查的效用。
回顾性病历审查。
城市一级创伤中心。
患者/参与者：2001年至2010年间接受踝关节骨折手术固定且在术后7 - 120天接受术后踝关节X线检查的约1411名患者。
使用当前手术操作术语搜索来识别患者，并根据术后首次踝关节X线检查的时间将患者分为两组。审查每份病历以查找并发症。
使用χ检验和Fisher精确检验比较术后早期（7 - 21天）进行踝关节X线检查的患者与术后晚期（22 - 120天）进行X线检查的患者的并发症发生率。
早期组纳入约889名患者，晚期组纳入522名患者。总体而言，共识别出93名有并发症的患者（6.59%）：早期组62名患者（6.97%），晚期组31名患者（5.93%）。结果显示早期组和晚期组之间的并发症发生率无统计学显著差异。
没有足够的证据表明踝关节骨折固定术后的并发症发生率因术后X线检查的时间不同而有所差异。这项研究对手术治疗的踝关节骨折进行常规X线检查的合理性提出了质疑。
治疗性三级证据。有关证据级别的完整描述，请参阅作者须知。
