Functional results of patients with ankle syndesmosis injuries treated with the dynamic fixation (the syndesmosis TightRope® suture button) compared to the rigid fixation

Abstract

Introduction/Objective. Sprains account for 85% of all ankle injuries. Syndesmosis injuries occur in 1–18% of patients with ankle sprains and are more common in contact sports involving forced foot dorsiflexion. Methods. In our study, we compared 30 patients treated with dynamic fixation for acute syndesmotic injury with patients treated with rigid fixation. The criteria for comparison were: American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle Hindfoot Scale, visual analogue scale (VAS), EuroQol five-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D), range of motion, complications and reoperations. Results. The mean AOFAS score for patients treated with rigid fixation was 88.6, while the mean score for patients treated with dynamic fixation was 91.6. The mean VAS score for rigid fixation was 83.5, while it was 85.8 for dynamic fixation. Infection as a complication of rigid fixation was present in two patients (11.8%), while it was absent in the dynamic fixation group. The need for implant removal occurred in two patients treated with rigid fixation (11.8%) and in one patient treated with dynamic fixation (7.7%). Conclusion. Based on our results and the results reported by other authors, we prove that there is a lower incidence of problems related to implants and the need for the implant removal with dynamic fixation, based on the results of AOFAS score, we notice better and faster recovery with dynamic fixation as well.

Keywords

• ankle syndesmosis injuries
• dynamic fixation
• rigid fixation
• aofas score