Orthopaedic literature has very limited data regarding outcomes following ankle fracture dislocations. Increased knowledge of the long-term consequences of these injuries could usher in changes to treatment paradigms, potentially resulting in improved outcomes. Thirty patients will be enrolled into two arms of this prospective study: isolated ankle fractures and ankle fracture dislocations. Patients will be followed through their operative and postoperative course and clinical and radiographic assessments will be analyzed. We plan to compare the clinical, radiographic, and functional outcomes of patients with ankle fractures to those with ankle fracture-dislocations. We also plan to identify factors that contribute to or predict poor clinical, functional, and/or radiographic outcomes in patients with ankle fractures and fracture-dislocations.
The purpose of this study is to compare outcomes of patients with an ankle fracture to those with ankle fracture-dislocations. We hypothesize that long-term clinical outcomes for patients sustaining ankle fracture dislocations are poorer than those without dislocation.