Citation

Scheer RC, Newman JM, Zhou JJ, Oommen AJ, Naziri Q, Shah NV, Pascal SC, Penny GS, McKean JM, Tsai J, Uribe JA. J. Foot Ankle Surg. 2020; 59(3): 479-483.

Affiliation

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1053/j.jfas.2019.09.016

PMID

32354504

Abstract

Current nationwide epidemiological data regarding ankle fractures are scarce. Such information is important towards better quantifying the mortality associated with such injuries, financial impact, as well as the implementation of preventative measures. This study evaluated the epidemiology of ankle fractures that occurred during a 5-year period. Specifically, we evaluated demographics, mechanism of injury, and disposition. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was queried to identify all patients with ankle fractures that presented to US hospital emergency departments between 2012 and 2016. Census data were used to determine the incidence rates of ankle fractures in terms of age, sex, and race. There was an estimated total of 673,214 ankle fractures that occurred during this period, with an incidence rate of 4.22/10,000 person-years. The mean age of patients with an ankle fracture was 37 ± 22.86 (SD) years; 23.5% of ankle fractures occurred in patients aged 10 to 19 years (7.56/10,000 person-years). In addition, 44% of ankle fractures occurred in men (3.81/10,000 person-years), whereas 56% occurred in women (4.63/10,000 person-years). Data on race/ethnicity were available for 71% of the subjects, with incidence rates of 2.85/10,000 person-years for whites, 3.01/10,000 person-years for blacks, and 4.08/10,000 person-years for others. The most common mechanism of injury was falls (54.83%), followed by sports (20.76%), exercise (16.84%), jumping (4.42%), trauma (2.84%), and other (0.30%). For disposition, 81.84% of patients were treated and released, 1.43% were transferred, 16.01% were admitted, 0.59% were held for observation, and 0.13% left against medical advice. The highest incidence of ankle fractures in men occurred in the 10-to-19-years age group, but women were more commonly affected in all other age groups.

Copyright © 2019 the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

ankle fracture; demographics; epidemiology; incidence; injury mechanism; nationwide analysis