Literature review of biomechanics of the ankle/ foot complex: changes in functional activities postoperatively for ankle fractures

Abstract

The ankle plays an important role in daily life under the functional point of view. It is essential to perform basic movements such as walking, running, etc. The ankle joint complex is a part of the body most frequently injured of the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic fractures in this joint may be classified as low trauma and high energy, the latter trauma, usually found in traffic accidents and falls from great heights are the most disabling. In the general context often this type of fracture compromises neighboring joints due to misalignment of the loading axis of the involved segment, emerging pain and progressive functional disability. In this context, this study aimed to review the literature of studies that were willing to analyze the biomechanical causes of the functional outcome of fractures of the complex orthopedic foot/ankle trauma generated by high and low energy. For this, a search was made in electronic databases indexing scientific articles, using the keyword search previously created. For better understanding we divided the literature review on topics: classification of ankle fractures, surgical treatment, no surgical indications and contraindications in cases of surgery, types of surgery with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), external and hybrid; wounds and complications consequences: amputation, obesity, arthritis and osteoarthritis, early motion, range of motion, gait pathology. From this review study, it is necessary that other publications in the field of physical therapy related biomechanical results of ankle fractures are carried out, since most studies were found in articles reporting on the medical surgeries.