Arthroscopic surgery plus one or more posterior small incisions for calcaneal fractures

Abstract

Objective To compare the effects of arthroscopic surgery plus one or more posterior small incisions and the sinus tarsi approach in the treatment of calcaneal fracture. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted of the 85 patients with calcaneal fracture who had been treated from January 2017 to June 2017 at Department of Foot & Ankle Surgery, Guangzhou Orthopaedic Hospital. They were 43 men and 42 women, 32 to 58 years of age (average, 46.0 years). Arthroscopic surgery plus one or more posterior small incisions was performed in 40 of them while the sinus tarsi approach was used in the other 45 cases. The 2 groups were compared in terms of operation time, fracture healing time, incision complications and functions of the affected foot by the American Orthopedic Foot Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scores. Results There were no significant differences in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing they were comparable (P>0.05). The average follow-up period for all the patients was 8 months (from 6 to 12 months). For the arthroscopic surgery group and sinus tarsi approach group, the fracture healing time was 8.6±2.4 weeks and 8.9±1.8 weeks, and the AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scores were 82.5±5.6 and 85.1±4.0, respectively, showing no significant differences between them (P>0.05). The operation time in the arthroscopic surgery group (43.6±5.4 min) was significantly less than in the sinus tarsi approach group (56.5±6.4 minutes), and the rate of complications in the former[2.5%(1/40)] significantly lower than in the latter[15.6%(7/45)] (P< 0.05). Conclusion Arthroscopic surgery plus one or more posterior small incisions may be a fine treatment for calcaneal fractures because postoperative incision complications can be reduced. Key words: Arthroscopy; Calcaneus; Fracture, bone; Posterior