Affiliation:
1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Østfold Hospital Trust, Grålum, Norway
2. Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Østfold Hospital Trust, Grålum, Norway
Abstract
Background:
Replacing gravity stress tests with weight-bearing radiographs to evaluate the stability of Weber B (also called Lauge-Hansen supination-external rotation [SER]) ankle fractures results in a lower surgery rate, thus avoiding associated risks and complications. Still, nonoperative treatment of weight-bearing stable fractures is controversial because of the scarcity of strong evidence. We investigated the influence of a concomitant unstable gravity stress test compared with a stable gravity stress test on outcomes after nonoperative treatment of weight-bearing stable fractures.
Methods:
We performed a prospective, noninferiority study on 149 patients with Weber B ankle fractures and stable weight-bearing radiographs. Gravity stress radiographs classified fractures as stable (SER2 [n = 88]) or partially unstable (SER4a [n = 61]). All were treated with a functional orthosis and weight-bearing was allowed; patients were followed for 2 years. The primary outcome was the Manchester-Oxford Foot and Ankle Questionnaire (MOXFQ), with a range from 0 to 100, in which lower scores indicate fewer symptoms. A noninferiority margin was prospectively defined as 7.5 points. The secondary outcomes included the Olerud-Molander Ankle Score, assessment of ankle congruence, and treatment-related adverse events.
Results:
The primary outcome data were available for 144 (96.6%) of 149 participants at 2 years. The between-group difference in the MOXFQ score was 1.0 point (95% confidence interval, −1.4 to 3.4 points; p = 0.397) in favor of the SER2 group, consistent with noninferiority. We found no appreciable between-group differences for any other outcome.
Conclusions:
In Weber B/SER ankle fractures that are stable on weight-bearing radiographs, are treated with removable orthoses, and are allowed to bear weight, a concomitant unstable gravity stress test (SER4a) was not associated with worse patient-reported or radiographic outcomes compared with a stable gravity stress test (SER2) at the 2-year follow-up. Thus, the identification of stress instability seems redundant, which questions the applicability of stress instability for surgical decision-making.
Level of Evidence:
Diagnostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Subject
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine,General Medicine,Surgery
Cited by
1 articles.
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