Effectiveness and Outcome of Early Weight Bearing in Ankle Fracture: A Systemic Review

Introduction: Ankle fractures are claimed to affect 70-185 patients out of 100,000 people each year. There is currently no unanimity among surgeons throughout the world on early versus restricted weight bearing in surgically treated trauma patients with fractures. The aim of this study was to systematically review the effectiveness and outcome of early weight bearing in ankle fracture as well as quality of life and pain.

Methods: An electronic search was conducted of the databases EMBASE, PubMed, and The Cochrane Library, as well as Medline, Google Scholar to identify all articles related to the topic that have been published after 2006.

Results: Initially, 2434 records were identified. Due to similarity and duplication, 1308 records were eliminated, and 1126 records were kept. Following the screening of the records and their subjects, 921 further unconnected records were eliminated. Then, 205 qualified full-text articles were selected, and 10 articles were included in qualitative analysis.

Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, surgical therapy, both aggressive and minimal, appears to be a safe alternative for the elderly. Short-term advantages of early weight-bearing include a decreased incidence of thromboembolic disease. Active movement reduces joint stiffness while maintaining muscle mass. Post-operative mobility, quality of life, and post-operative early weight bearing status are considered as significant outcome indicators. Unsafe weight as tolerated after ankle surgery might be a safe and encouraging option. As a result, future research should include this possibilities.