During 1962-83, we had a total of 104 ankle fracture cases, of which a half were treated by surgical operation. Since 1981, Zuggurtungsosteosyntheses have been employed in most of the cases for fixing fractures instead of screws.
In this method, special devices are not necessary except for Kirschner steel wires and clamping wires. Moreover, after surgery, external support by the plaster of paris is not necessary, because compression is continuously applied on the surface of the fracture. Exercises to strengthen the injured ankle can be begnu early.
In these cases treated with the Zuggurtungsosteosynthese method, postoperative prognosis has been very good. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of this modality in the treatment of ankle fractures.
We also discuss the use of tapes which we have recently adopted to immobilize simple and minor ankle fractures not requiring a surgical operation.