Operative Management and Evaluation of Fracture Neck of Talus

Abstract

BACKGROUND Fractures and dislocations of the talus are a challenging injury. Fractures of the talus are generally thought to be relatively uncommon. However, the talus is the second most commonly fractured tarsal bone. The purpose of this study is to evaluate clinical and radiological outcomes of operatively treated displaced talus fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study is a prospective study of twelve cases of displaced fracture neck of talus evaluated and treated at the department of orthopaedics, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna from 20 August 2015 to 18 August 2017. RESULTS Reduction was anatomical in six cases (50%), nearly anatomical in 3 cases (25%) and poor in 3 cases (25%). Two patients (16.66%) developed an early superficial infection and required surgical irrigation and debridement and appropriate antibiotic treatment. Using the AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scale, the average functional score was 75.17 points. There was excellent result in four patients, good result in three cases, fair in three and poor result was found in two cases. CONCLUSION Fracture neck of talus (Hawkins type 2 and 3) treated with anatomical reduction and near anatomical reduction had a satisfactory clinical and functional outcome, whereas (Hawkins type 4) had fair to poor outcome with complications like AVN, arthritis and malunion due to poor initial reduction. KEYWORDS Talar neck fractures, Avascular necrosis, AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scale, Hawkins type of fracture.