TY - JOUR T1 - Posterior malleolus fixation in trimalleolar fractures: comparison of functional outcomes of plate and screw methods TT - Posterior malleolus fixation in trimalleolar fractures: comparison of functional outcomes of plate and screw methods AU - Öktem, Umut AU - Daştan, Muhammed Cihan AU - Bingöl, İzzet AU - Özaltın, Gülfem Ezgi PY - 2025 DA - July Y2 - 2025 DO - 10.38053/acmj.1715432 JF - Anatolian Current Medical Journal JO - Anatolian Curr Med J / ACMJ / acmj PB - MediHealth Academy Yayıncılık WT - DergiPark SN - 2718-0115 SP - 442 EP - 446 VL - 7 IS - 4 LA - en AB - Aims: This study was planned to compare the clinical outcomes of plate and cannulated screw fixation methods for the posterior malleolus (PM) component in trimalleolar ankle fractures and to evaluate the effect of the time from trauma to surgery and the presence of dislocation on postoperative function.Methods: This retrospective study included 44 patients who underwent surgical treatment with PM fixation for trimalleolar fractures between 2019 and 2023. Patients were grouped by fixation method: screw (n=19) and plate (n=25), with all surgeries performed via a posterolateral approach. Functional outcomes were assessed using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score at 6, 12, and 24 months. The presence of ankle dislocation and time from trauma to surgery (24 hours) were recorded. Results: AOFAS scores showed no significant difference between plate and screw groups at any time point (p>0.05). However, patients with dislocation had significantly lower scores at all follow-ups (p KW - Cannulated screw KW - plate fixation KW - posterior malleolus KW - trimalleolar fracture N2 - Aims: This study was planned to compare the clinical outcomes of plate and cannulated screw fixation methods for the posterior malleolus (PM) component in trimalleolar ankle fractures and to evaluate the effect of the time from trauma to surgery and the presence of dislocation on postoperative function.Methods: This retrospective study included 44 patients who underwent surgical treatment with PM fixation for trimalleolar fractures between 2019 and 2023. Patients were grouped by fixation method: screw (n=19) and plate (n=25), with all surgeries performed via a posterolateral approach. Functional outcomes were assessed using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score at 6, 12, and 24 months. The presence of ankle dislocation and time from trauma to surgery (24 hours) were recorded. Results: AOFAS scores showed no significant difference between plate and screw groups at any time point (p>0.05). However, patients with dislocation had significantly lower scores at all follow-ups (p CR - Pflüger P, Braun KF, Mair O, Kirchhoff C, Biberthaler P, Crönlein M. Current management of trimalleolar ankle fractures. EFORT Open Rev. 2021;6(8):692-703. doi:10.1302/2058-5241.6.200138 CR - Kang C, Hwang DS. Screw fixation of the posterior malleolus fragment in ankle fracture. Foot Ankle Int. 2019;40(11):1288-1294. doi:10.1177/ 1071100719865895 CR - Patel S, Baburaj V, Sharma S, Mason LW, Dhillon MS. Influence of posterior malleolar fragment morphology on the outcomes of trimalleolar fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Foot Ankle Surg. 2022;28(8):1337-1344. doi:10.1016/j.fas.2022.06.012 CR - Yang L, Yin G, Zhu J, et al. 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