Fixation of Posterior Malleolar Fractures with Posterior Plating Through a Posterolateral Approach.

BACKGROUND

We aimed to evaluate radiologic and clinical outcomes of ankle fractures involving posterior fragments that were fixed with a posterior plate by the posterolateral approach.

METHODS

Sixty-five patients who were followed for at least 12 months and were older than 18 years were included. The posterior malleolus fractures were classified according to the Haraguchi classification system with computed tomography (CT). The posterior malleolus fragments were fixed with a plate through a posterolateral approach. Intra-articular step-off, reduction of the posterior malleolar fragment, and fibular position in the incisura were evaluated by early postoperative CT. American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score and visual analog scale pain score were used for clinical assessment.

RESULTS

The posterior malleolus fractures were classified as Haraguchi type 1 in 45 patients (69.2%), Haraguchi type 2 in 12 patients (18.5%), and Haraguchi type 3 in eight patients (12.3%). No patients showed signs of instability or loss of reduction on direct radiographs during follow-up. Postoperative CT showed no loss of reduction in the posterior malleolus and tibiofibular alignment. On evaluation, there was no intra-articular step-off (<1) in any of the patients. The mean AOFAS score was calculated to be 91.6. The mean visual analog scale score was 1.2.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that direct posterior fixation with the posterolateral approach can be a good option for ankle fractures involving posterior malleolar fragments.