DOI: 10.36347/sasjs

Pages: 146-151

Open ankle fractures are challenging injuries due to the fact of frequent infections, non-unions and potential limb loss. Although the traditional management of these injuries is external fixation, a trend towards definitive stabilization techniques has evolved in the current literature. Is there adistinction in different forms of stabilization for open ankle fractures influencing overall outcome. The objective of this prospective collected and retrospective evaluated data study was intended to analyse the outcome of different forms of stabilisation in open ankle fractures. All open ankle fractures (OTA 43 and 44) presenting to our urban Level I trauma centre during a ten-year period were reviewed. Fifty patients were initially treated at our institution within six hours of injury. All patients underwent emergent wound irrigation, debridement and antibiotic therapy. Study population (44 patients) can be subdivided according to Gustilo classification for open fractures: 12 (27%) GI, 19 (43%) GII and 13 (30%) GIII. Initially fracture management was performed with plating (PL) 17 (39%), external fixation (EF) 10 (23%),