Cohort study on the percutaneous treatment of displaced intra-articular fractures of the calcaneus.

Background:To reduce the high rate of soft tissue complications in the treatment of displaced intra-articular fractures of the calcaneus, several minimally invasive techniques have been developed. Little evidence exists on the clinical outcome of these techniques.Methods:We performed a study on a cohort of 46 fractures treated by the 3-point distraction technique. In 41 fractures, clinical outcome was available. Fractures were classified according to the Essex-Lopresti and Sanders classifications. The clinical outcome was determined using the 3 most frequently used outcome scores.Results:The clinical outcome of our cohort of percutaneous treated intra-articular calcaneal fractures was good to excellent in 69% with the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle-hindfoot scale (AOFAS) score. This percentage increases to 100% for tongue type fractures alone but decreases to 52% for joint depression type fractures. Infectious complications occurred in 1 (2.4%) and secondary arthrodesis was needed in 3 ...