• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.102-111
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• 1997

The tibial Pilon fracture, which is defined as a comminuted intraarticular fracture of the distal tibia, is difficult to manage because high axial compression and rotational forces to the ankle joint result in impaction, severe comminution, metaphyseal disruption and soft tissue damage. There are variable methods of treatment such as manipulation and cast, calcaneal traction and cast, external fixation, pin and plaster, limited open reduction and external fixation, and open reduction and rigid internal fixation. Though most of authors reported better result after a surgical treatment. than that of conservative treatment, many complications such as posttraumatic arthritis and soft tissue problem still remain troublesome. We have reviewed 19 cases of the tibial Pilon fractures in 18 patients which were treated with limited open reduction and internal fixation from September 1993 to May 1996. The results were as follows: 1. The fractures were classified into five types according to the system of Ovadia and Beals, and the most frequent type was type 3 (53%). The most common cause of injury was traffic accident (47%). 2. All of the cases of type 1 and 2, in which the injury of the ankle joint was less severe, revealed good or excellent clinical results. But in type 4 and 5, because the injury is much severe and accurate reduction is difficult, the clinical results were unsatisfaetory. 3. The most frequent complication was posttraumatic osteoarthritis, and which developed in second frequent complication, was developed m the three cases of type 3 in which the radiographic results were less than fair, but there were no correlation with the clinical results. 4. We could markedly reduce the complications related to the soft tissue problem of Pilon fracture by treatment with limited open reduction and internal fixation, and consider that this is a good method of treatment of Pilon fracture when the injury is less severe and accurate reduction is possible.