BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to evaluate the hypothesis that a 1-week extension of the waiting period to perform surgery for ankle fracture might affect postoperative results and complications.
METHODS: We used our multicenter database named TRON (Trauma Research Group of Nagoya). In all, 779 patients who underwent surgery for ankle fracture, who had no comorbidities were eligible. After exclusion, we analyzed 596 patients. We divided the patients into 2 groups according to whether they were operated on within 7 days after the injury with propensity score matching.
RESULTS: The operative time of the delayed operation group (DO group) was significantly longer than that of the early operation group (EO group) (115.87 ± 56.59 vs 85.93 ± 34.58 minutes; P <.001). The rate of infection in the DO group was significantly higher than that of the EO group (16 patients [6.5%] vs 4 patients [1.6%]; P =.016).
CONCLUSION: Waiting for more than a week to perform ankle surgery may lead to longer operative times and increased infection rates. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: III.
Language: en
Keywords
complications; propensity score matching; closed ankle fracture; open reduction and internal fixation; wait time to surgery