Aim: This study aims to investigate the mid-term clinical outcomes of surgically treated Pilon Fractures (PF).
Material and Methods: Twenty patients, surgically treated for PF between 2002 and 2012 were included in the study. Patients were evaluated functionally based on the Weber and American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) protocols. Results: Mean follow-up period was 31.55 (20-48) months. Nine (45%) of the 20 patients had open fractures. According to the Rüedi-Allgöwer Classification: type 1 in nine, type 2 in nine (45%) and type 3 fractures were observed in two patients. A comparison of the duration of union between closed and open fractures revealed that the union of open fractures took a significantly longer time (p= 0.004).Moreover, soft tissue complications developed to a proportionally lesser extent in patients who were applied staged fixation compared with those were applied direct fixation, although the difference was not statistically significant (p= 0.999).
Conclusion:The surgical treatment phase of PF should comply with maximum care provided and attention paid to soft tissue. It should be remembered that the fate/outcome of certain fractures is determined at the time of the incident and that certain negative outcomes are inevitable in some patients despite the best efforts.
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