ArticleMalaysian orthopaedic journal2025
Clinical Outcomes Following Posterior Malleolus Fixation in Trimalleolar Ankle Fractures: A Prospective Study.
Article in Malaysian orthopaedic journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Posterior malleolus (PM) fractures are frequently caused by pronation or supination injuries with an external rotation component to the ankle. Historically, fixation of the PM was not considered essential if it involved less than 25% of the tibial articular surface. However, studies have now shown that trimalleolar fractures fare worse than bimalleolar fractures. This study primarily aims to evaluate the clinical outcomes of trimalleolar fractures, focusing on posterior malleolus fixation regardless of the fragment size. Materials and methods: A prospective observational study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of PM fixation at a tertiary care centre from October 2020 to December 2022. All participants underwent pre-operative radiographs and were classified according to the Lauge-Hansen system. Sixteen consecutive patients underwent the posterolateral approach to reduce and stabilise the PM, utilising either a buttress/antiglide plate or a posterior-to-anterior (PA) screw, in conjunction with fixation of the medial and lateral malleoli. Patient characteristics, injury specifics, surgical details, and complications were documented. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scoring system. Results: The study cohort included 16 patients with an average follow-up of 18 months. The AOFAS scores indicated excellent outcomes in six cases, good outcomes in eight cases, and a fair outcome in two cases. PA lag screw fixation was used in seven patients when the fracture fragment was large enough with three excellent, three good and one fair outcome. While buttress/antiglide plate fixation was employed in nine patients when the fracture fragment was small or comminuted with three excellent, five good and one fair outcome. One patient developed a superficial infection, which was managed with debridement, and another patient experienced malunion. Both of these patients had a fair outcome. Conclusion: A posterolateral approach allows fixation of the posterior malleolus and fibula through a single incision, ensuring anatomical reduction and stable fixation. This method yields excellent outcomes with minimal complications, though further research with larger studies is needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.