scholarly journals Ankle syndesmotic injury: Tightrope vs screw fixation, A clinical academic survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 102680
Author(s):  
Hassan Shafiq ◽  
Zafar Iqbal ◽  
Mohammad Noah Hasan Khan ◽  
Muhammad Umer Rasool ◽  
Ahmad Faraz ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 2473011420S0000
Author(s):  
Eric Giza ◽  
Todd Oliver ◽  
Patrick S. Barousse ◽  
Tyler Allen ◽  
Trevor Shelton ◽  
...  

Category: Ankle; Trauma Introduction/Purpose: Syndesmotic disruption occurs in 10 to 13% of all ankle fractures. It is present in 15 cases per 100,000 of the general population. There has been debate on the best treatment for syndesmotic injuries. The typical surgical treatments include fixation with either screws or suture button devices. The purpose of this study is to compare clinical outcomes of syndesmotic injuries treated surgically with either screws or suture button devices. It was hypothesized that suture button fixation would provide equal clinical results with less need for hardware removal. Methods: This was a multi-center, randomized, prospective clinical trial comparing two surgical interventions for treatment of acute syndesmotic injury. Subjects were placed into either screw fixation or the Suture-button device group. Subjects with clinical signs or radiographic evidence of syndesmotic injury were asked to participate in this study. Inclusion criteria was ages 18 to 65 years old with confirmed syndesmotic instability. The primary outcomes of the study were VAS scores (activity, pain, satisfaction) and FFI scores (pain, disability, activity) which were collected at preoperative state, 6 weeks, and 12 months postoperatively. Results: Sixty-five subjects were enrolled in this study. Thirty-two subjects received Suture-button fixation (49%) and 33 received screw fixation (51%). VAS scores and FFI scores for subjects treated with the Suture-button device or screw fixation comparing preoperative, six-week, and 12-month scores all showed clinical improvement. There was no significant difference between the two treatment groups (p >0.05).Nine subjects (27%) in the syndesmotic screw fixation group experienced adverse events, and only one subject (3%) in the suture-button group had adverse event. Conclusion: The short-term clinical outcomes suggest that both syndesmotic screws and suture-button devices are effective treatment options to address acute syndesmotic injuries. In the short-term (12-months), suture-button fixation resulted in significantly less adverse events compared to syndesmotic screw fixation group.


2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Forsythe ◽  
Kevin B. Freedman ◽  
Michael D. Stover ◽  
Avinash G. Patwardhan

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 2473011418S0009
Author(s):  
Neel Patel ◽  
Calvin Chan ◽  
Conor Murphy ◽  
Richard Debski ◽  
Volker Musahl ◽  
...  

Category: Ankle Introduction/Purpose: Injury to the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament (AITFL), posterior inferior tibiofibular ligament (PITFL), and interosseous membrane (IOM) of the syndesmosis is a predictive measure of residual symptoms after an ankle injury. Unstable syndesmotic injuries are typically treated surgically with constructs consisting of cortical screw and/or suture button fixation. Previous studies have shown contradicting findings regarding the effects of different surgical fixation methods on tibiofibular kinematics. Thus, the objective of this study was to quantify tibiofibular joint motion with different syndesmotic screw and suture button fixation constructs after disruption of the syndesmosis compared to the intact ankle during simulated weight bearing. Methods: Five fresh-frozen human cadaveric specimens were tested using a six degree-of-freedom robotic testing system. After subtalar joint fusion, the tibia and calcaneus were rigidly fixed to a robotic manipulator, while complete fibular length was maintained and fibular motion was unconstrained. A constant 200 N compressive load was applied to the ankle while an additional 5 Nm external rotation and 5 Nm inversion moment applied independently to the ankle at 0°, 15°, and 30° plantarflexion and 10° dorsiflexion. Fibular motion with respect to the tibia was tracked using an optical tracking system. Outcome variables included fibular medial-lateral (ML) translation, anterior-posterior (AP) translation, and external rotation (ER) in the following states: intact ankle, complete injury (AITFL, PITFL, and IOM transected), single tricortical screw fixation double tricortical screw fixation, hybrid fixation (single tricortical screw and single suture button), suture button fixation, and divergent suture button fixation. Repeated measures ANOVA was performed for statistical analysis. Results: The external rotation moment produced significant differences in fibular motion between the injury and fixation states compared to the intact state. A complete syndesmotic injury caused significantly increased fibular lateral translation, posterior translation, and external rotation in all ankle positions except 30° plantarflexion compared to the intact ankle. Single suture button and single screw fixation resulted in significantly higher fibular lateral translation at 10° dorsiflexion compared the intact ankle, while single suture button fixation also resulted in significantly higher external rotation at 10° dorsiflexion compared the intact ankle. Fibular posterior translation was significantly higher with hybrid, suture button, and divergent suture button fixation at 0° flexion and with single tricortical screw and double screw fixation at 10° dorsiflexion compared to the intact ankle (Figure 1). Conclusion: Complete injury to the syndesmosis results in significantly higher fibular lateral translation, external rotation, and posterior translation compared to the intact ankle. Hybrid or divergent suture button fixation would be recommended to restore tibiofibular motion without over-constraint. However, none of the fixation methods were able to restore AP translation in all ankle positions. Thus, it is important to evaluate syndesmotic stability in the sagittal plane at different ankle positions. Findings of this study suggest that physicians should evaluate fibular AP translation in a neutral position when using suture button fixation constructs and in dorsiflexion when using tricortical screw fixation constructs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 2473011419S0018
Author(s):  
Eric Giza ◽  
Todd Oliver ◽  
Christopher Kreulen ◽  
Ashoke Sathy ◽  
Wade Faerber ◽  
...  

Category: Ankle, Arthroscopy, Sports Introduction/Purpose: Syndesmotic disruption occurs in 10 to 13% of all ankle fractures. It is present in 15 cases per 100,000 of the general population. There has been debate on the best treatment for syndesmotic injuries. The typical surgical treatments include fixation with either screws or suture button devices. The purpose of this study is to compare clinical outcomes of syndesmotic injuries treated surgically with either screws or suture button devices. It was hypothesized that suture button fixation would provide equal clinical results with less need for hardware removal. Methods: This was a multi-center, randomized, prospective clinical trial comparing two surgical interventions for treatment of acute syndesmotic injury. At the time of surgical intervention, subjects were placed into either the screw fixation or the Suture-button device group by opening a randomized envelope in the operating room. Subjects with clinical signs or radiographic evidence of syndesmotic injury were asked to participate in this study. Inclusion criteria was ages 18 to 65 years old with confirmed syndesmotic instability. The primary outcomes of thestudy were VAS scores (activity, pain, satisfaction) and FFI scores (pain, disability, activity) which were collected at preoperative state, 6 weeks, and 12 months postoperatively. Results: Sixty-five subjects were enrolled in this study. Thirty-two subjects received Suture-button fixation (49%) and 33 received screw fixation (51%). VAS scores and FFI scores for subjects treated with the Suture-button device or screw fixation comparing preoperative, six-week, and 12-month scores all showed clinical improvement. There was no significant difference between the two treatment groups (p >0.05). Nine subjects (27%) in the syndesmotic screw fixation group experienced adverse events; four required repeat surgery for symptomatic syndesmotic screw removal, one for revision fixation, and four did not return to surgery despite hardware failure. One subject(3%) in the suture-button group required hardware removal. Conclusion: The short-term clinical outcomes suggest that both syndesmotic screws and suture-button devices are effective treatment options to address acute syndesmotic injuries. In the short-term (12-months), suture-button fixation resulted in significantly less adverse events compared to syndesmotic screw fixation group.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 2473011418S0031
Author(s):  
Si Wook Lee

Category: Trauma Introduction/Purpose: The strategy of transfixing screw fixation including screw number, size, material, the number of cortex involved, and penetrating angle is controversial. The purpose of this fresh frozen cadaveric study is to demonstrate the optimal degree of transfixing screw insertion after syndesmotic reduction in the Pronation External Rotation (PER) type ankle fractures, and to study reliable parameters to evaluate the syndesmotic reduction. Methods: Twenty paired fresh frozen anatomic specimens of the ankles were obtained. Before dissection, CT scans were taken preoperatively. Then, preparation was performed by cutting and dissection of anterior interior tibiofibular ligament (AITFL), interosseous ligament and membrane. Two types of screw placement were set. Ten screws were inserted into right ankle at an angle of 25 to 30 degrees from neutral position. The other 10 screws were inserted into the left ankle at a 0 degree angle from neutral position. Postoperative CT scan was performed after screw insertion. Anterior fibular distance(AFD), posterior fibular distance(PFD), anterior translation distance(AT), diastasis, anterior-posterior translation(APT) were measured in 2D axial section and volume of the syndesmotic space were measured in 3D reconstruction data of preoperative and postoperative CT scan. Results: The transfixing screw fixation induce the significant difference in syndesmotic space regardless of insertion angle. There was significant difference only in fibular diastasis between both ankle model. There was no statistically significant difference in AFD, PFD, AT, APT and 3D reconstructed volume according to transfixing screw insertion angle when each measured value was compared through left and right ratio and absolute volume value. Conclusion: In ankle syndesmotic injury, transfixing screw insertion should be considered for the ankle stability. But, regardless of the insertion angle, transfixing screw insertion would have a significant therapeutic effect on ankle syndesmotic injury. Fibular diastasis would be the reliable parameters to evaluate syndesmotic reduction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 694-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy LaMothe ◽  
Josh R. Baxter ◽  
Susannah Gilbert ◽  
Conor I. Murphy ◽  
Sydney C. Karnovsky ◽  
...  

Background: Syndesmotic injuries can be associated with poor patient outcomes and posttraumatic ankle arthritis, particularly in the case of malreduction. However, ankle joint contact mechanics following a syndesmotic injury and reduction remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to characterize the effects of a syndesmotic injury and reduction techniques on ankle joint contact mechanics in a biomechanical model. Methods: Ten cadaveric whole lower leg specimens with undisturbed proximal tibiofibular joints were prepared and tested in this study. Contact area, contact force, and peak contact pressure were measured in the ankle joint during simulated standing in the intact, injured, and 3 reduction conditions: screw fixation with a clamp, screw fixation without a clamp (thumb technique), and a suture-button construct. Differences in these ankle contact parameters were detected between conditions using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: Syndesmotic disruption decreased tibial plafond contact area and force. Syndesmotic reduction did not restore ankle loading mechanics to values measured in the intact condition. Reduction with the thumb technique was able to restore significantly more joint contact area and force than the reduction clamp or suture-button construct. Conclusion: Syndesmotic disruption decreased joint contact area and force. Although the thumb technique performed significantly better than the reduction clamp and suture-button construct, syndesmotic reduction did not restore contact mechanics to intact levels. Clinical Relevance: Decreased contact area and force with disruption imply that other structures are likely receiving more loads (eg, medial and lateral gutters), which may have clinical implications such as the development of posttraumatic arthritis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 2473011417S0000
Author(s):  
Bi O Jeong ◽  
Jong Hun Baek ◽  
Wookjae Song

Category: Ankle, Trauma Introduction/Purpose: Transfixing screw fixation is required after anatomic reduction of syndesmosis disruption. An accurate anatomic reduction is related to good functional outcome. However, there is a dispute over whether the transfixing screw should be removed, and little is known about the change of syndesmosis integrity after screw removal. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of transfixing screw removal on syndesmosis integrity with computed tomography (CT) scans. Methods: The study was done prospectively on 28 cases (28 patients) who had transfixing screw fixation for syndesmosis injury from September 2010 to August 2016. Mean age was 31.9 years (range, 17 to 55 years). There were 20 male patients and 8 female patients. Transfixing screws were removed after 3 months, and CT scans were done just before and 3 months after transfixing screw removal. Anterior and posterior measurement ratio (A/P ratio) of the syndesmosis was measured on axial CT images for radiological analysis of changes in syndesmosis integrity between before and after screw removal. Results: Malreduction was observed in 7 cases (25%) before transfixing screw removal. All 7 cases were anterior malreductions. Syndesmosis was spontaneously reduced after screw removal in 5 out of the 7 malreduction cases (71.4%). The A/P ratio in the 7 cases decreased from average 1.37 (range, 1.25 to 1.61) before screw removal to average 1.12 (range, 0.96 to 1.25) after screw removal. The decrease was statistically significant (p = 0.016). Syndesmosis malreduction rate decreased from 25% before screw removal to 7.1% after screw removal. All patients with adequate reduction of their syndesmosis continued to have a reduced syndesmosis after transfixing screw removal. However, this difference in malreduction rate was statistically insignificant (p=0.063). Conclusion: Although the malreduction rate is relatively high after transfixing screw fixation in disrupted syndesmosis, the malreduced syndesmosis was spontaneously reduced in 71% of cases after screw removal. Therefore, it is beneficial to remove the transfixing screw a certain period of time after transfixing screw fixation to achieve anatomic reduction of the syndesmosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 2473011420S0041
Author(s):  
Chamnanni Rungprai ◽  
Yantarat Sripanich

Category: Ankle; Trauma Introduction/Purpose: Syndesmotic injury frequently presents in severe rotational ankle fracture and a trans-syndesmotic screws fixation is commonly used technique. Bases on previous literatures, syndesmotic malreduction rate can occur between 20- 70 percent following traditional trans-syndesmotic screw fixation in all type of ankle fracture. However, there is a little evidence regarding the malreduction rate in each type of ankle fractures. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate malreduction rate of syndesmosis using simultaneously bilateral post-operative CT measurement after trans-syndesmotic screw fixation between supination external rotation and pronation external rotation type ankle fracture. Methods: A prospective comparative study of patients who had acute ankle fracture with syndesmotic injury between January 2015 and December 2017 were enrolled. Lague-Hansen classification was used to classify all patient into 2 groups: SER and PER based on mechanism of injury. Syndesmotic injury was confirmed by ankle arthroscopic examination in all patients and they were treated with ORIF distal fibula using either 1/3 tubular plate or anatomical locking plate under direct visualization of syndesmosis. Syndesmosis was fixed by one or two of 3.5-mm cortical screw with three or four cortices. The accuracy of syndesmotic reduction was evaluated by simultaneously bilateral post-operative CT scan. Syndesmotic reduction was measured using anterior to posterior distance (AP) and medial to lateral distance (ML). A widening of distance between anterior tibia and fibula at 1-cm above the ankle joint more than 2 mm compared to uninjured sides considered a malreduction of syndesmosis. Results: There were 67 patients were enrolled in this study (SER=48 and PER=15). The syndesmotic injury was present 60% (48/70) in SER and 100% (15/15) in PER group respectively. The malreduction was significant higher in PER than SER (2.1% in SER vs 20% in PER). Operative time was 58.2 and 79.2 minutes in SER and PER. The tibiofibular clear space was 4.0mm versus 4.8mm in SER and PER. The AP distance was -0.33mm and -0.51mm and ML distance was 1.91 mm and 1.59mm for SER compared to normal side and 0.19 mm and -0.21 and ML distance was 2.59mm and 1.63mm for PER compared to normal side. There were significant improvements of functional outcomes (FAAM, SF-36, and VAS) but no significant different between the two groups. Conclusion: The incidence of concomitant syndesmotic injury and syndesmotic malreduction rate following trans-syndesmotic screw fixation was significantly higher in PER type compared SER type ankle fracture. The malposition of distal fibula was displaced anteriorly and laterally (undercompression) compared to uninjured side.


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