Diagnosis and surgical treatment of a special type of Maisonneuve injury / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To report the diagnosis and surgical treatment of a special type of Maisonneuve injury.Methods:A total of 4 patients were treated at Department of Orthopaedics, Beijing Chao Yang Hospital from January 2015 to July 2019 for Maisonneuve injury. They were 3 males and one female, aged from 34 to 61 years (average, 45.3 years). All injuries were closed, initially manifested as posterior dislocation of the ankle on X-ray films and X-ray and CT re-exams after manual reduction showed fine reduction with no obvious fracture of the ankle joint. Consequently the diagnosis of their Maisonneuve injury was missed in emergency visits, but re-exams in outpatient visits showed separation of distal tibiofibular syndesmosis. All the patients were treated by restoration of the fibular length, fixation of the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis and repair of the triangular ligament. American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score was used to evaluate functional recovery of the ankle joint at 12 months after operation.Results:All the 4 patients were followed up for 12 to 14 months (average, 12.7 months). The fractures united after 110 to 185 days (average, 149.3 days). No post-operative complications like infection, delayed union or nonunion were observed. The AOFAS score at 12 months ranged from 82 to 96 points (average, 90.5 points), giving 3 excellent and one good cases.Conclusions:The Maisonneuve injury which is clinically manifested as posterior dislocation of the ankle with no obvious fracture of the ankle joint is likely to be missed in clinical diagnosis. Therefore, X-ray exam of the full length tibia and fibula should be taken in physical examination after reduction for the patients with simple posterior dislocation of the ankle. Once the special type of Maisonneuve injury is diagnosed, surgical treatment is indicated. Satisfactory treatment efficacy can be achieved by fixation of the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis and repair of the triangular ligament.