Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2021
Use of cast immobilisation versus removable brace in adults with an ankle fracture: multicentre randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of cast immobilization versus removable braces in patients with ankle fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of behavior change in rehabilitation interventions to improve functional recovery after lower limb fracture: a systematic review.Musculoskeletal surgery · 2024Pooled it
- Rehabilitation for ankle fractures in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Cast versus removable orthosis for the management of stable type B ankle fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2023Pooled it
- Single-leg disuse decreases skeletal muscle strength, size, and power in uninjured adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2023Pooled it
- Is 2-week Cast Wearing Followed by 4-week Functional Bracing Superior to 6-week Cast Immobilization After Surgery for Ankle Fractures? A 2-year Follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Trial
- Co-design of a novel rehabilitation intervention for patients after ankle fracture surgery: establishing healthcare professional consensus.Musculoskeletal surgery · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Early versus delayed weight-bearing after ORIF of isolated AO/OTA 44-B1 lateral malleolar fractures: a retrospective cohort study.BMC surgery · 2026Article
- Comparative outcomes of resting splints and elastic bandages in adult lower extremity soft tissue trauma: A retrospective cohort study.Medicine · 2026Article
- The Ankle Recovery Trial (ART): clinical outcomes and patient experience of a pragmatic multicentre RCT comparing cast with removable boot for early mobilization after ankle fracture surgical fixation.Bone & joint open · 2025Article
- Review
- An Acta Orthopaedica educational article: Weightbearing assessment to guide nonoperative treatment of lateral malleolar fractures: the paradigm change.Acta orthopaedica · 2025Review
- Repair of Deltoid Ligament Disruption in Bimalleolar Equivalent Fractures: A Cadaveric Study.Clinics in orthopedic surgery · 2025Article
- CORR Insights®: Is 2-week Cast Wearing Followed by 4-week Functional Bracing Superior to 6-week Cast Immobilization After Surgery for Ankle Fractures? A 2-year Follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Article
- [Functional results after stabilization of operatively and non-operatively treated ankle fractures using a closed plaster cast or removable orthosis : Two-year findings of the British randomised multi-centre ankle injury rehabilitation (AIR) trial].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Internal fixation with biodegradable high purity magnesium screws in the treatment of ankle fracture.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2025Article
- Removable brace as a viable alternative to cast immobilization for ankle fractures-a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Calcaneal distraction vs. cast immobilization for the preoperative treatment of patients with Danis-Weber type C ankle fractures: a case-control study.Frontiers in surgery · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo assess function, quality of life, resource use, and complications in adults treated with plaster cast immobilisation versus a removable brace for ankle fracture.
designMulticentre randomised controlled trial.
setting20 trauma units in the UK National Health Service.
participants669 adults aged 18 years and older with an acute ankle fracture suitable for cast immobilisation: 334 were randomised to a plaster cast and 335 to a removable brace.
interventionsA below the knee cast was applied and ankle range of movement exercises started on cast removal. The removable brace was fitted, and ankle range of movement exercises were started immediately.
main outcome measuresPrimary outcome was the Olerud Molander ankle score at 16 weeks, analysed by intention to treat. Secondary outcomes were Manchester-Oxford foot questionnaire, disability rating index, quality of life, and complications at 6, 10, and 16 weeks.
resultsThe mean age of participants was 46 years (SD 17 years) and 381 (57%) were women. 502 (75%) participants completed the study. No statistically significant difference was found in the Olerud Molander ankle score between the cast and removable brace groups at 16 weeks (favours brace: 1.8, 95% confidence interval -2.0 to 5.6). No clinically significant differences were found in the Olerud Molander ankle scores at other time points, in the secondary unadjusted, imputed, or per protocol analyses.
conclusionsTraditional plaster casting was not found to be superior to functional bracing in adults with an ankle fracture. No statistically difference was found in the Olerud Molander ankle score between the trial arms at 16 weeks.
trial registrationISRCTN registry ISRCTN15537280.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.