Ortho-Plastic Approach in Management of Open Pilon Fractures

CATEGORY: Trauma; Ankle INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: The BOAST (British Orthopaedic Association Standards for Trauma) guidelines do advise that open pilon fractures amongst other open lower limb fractures need to be treated at a specialist centre with Orthoplastic care. The purpose of this study was to determine clinical outcomes in patients with open pilon fractures treated as per BOAST guidelines including relatively aggressive bone debridement. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of open pilon fractures treated between 2014 and 2019 was conducted. Injuries were graded according to the Gustillo-Anderson classification and all patients were included for the assessment of the rate of infection and fracture healing. Functional outcome assessment was performed in all patients according to the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Score (AOFAS) at 6 months after definitive surgery. Initial wound with bone debridement and application of a spanning external fixator was performed within an average of 13.5 (Range: 3-24) hours. Definitive fixation was performed when the wound was healed, with the mean time from primary surgery to definitive surgery being 24.5 (Range: 7-60) days. RESULTS: There was a total of 20 patients. The mean age was 50.5 (Range: 16-88) years. Follow-up was for an average of 25.1 (Range: 9-36) months. There were 3 patients with Gustilo Type I injuries, 6 with Type II, 4 Type with type IIIa and 7 with Type IIIb injuries. Average time to bone union was 9.3 (Range: 4-18) months. The mean AOFAS score was 64.4 (Range: 15-90). Definitive treatment via Taylor Spatial Frame was performed on 18 patients, while 2 patients had an Ilizarov frame. A corticotomy was performed on 4 patients with critical bone defect post debridement, while 3 patients had Stimulan beads with antibiotics. There were no cases of deep infection, however a superficial wound infection was found in 9 patients (45%). CONCLUSION: Results of our study suggests that the use of staged wound debridement including relatively aggressive bone debridement in conjunction with antibiotics, external fixators and patient tailored timing of definitive surgery achieves low rates of wound infection and complications for patients with open pilon fractures. We suggest treating these fractures with the availability of Orthoplastic care and with an MDT approach.